Tesla chief Elon Musk made an awkward joke about the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, using the word "Hummus" while talking about the group that attacked Israel on October 7. The remarks were made Joe Rogan's podcast where the world' richest man also spoke about his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter (now known as X), why he still wants to fight Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and went on a monologue about the "mind virus" and the "zombie apocalypse" it threatens to usher in.
This was Mr Musk's fourth appearance on the podcast and both were dressed in Halloween costumes. The billionaire wore a silk scarf and a jacket, describing himself as "half-dressed as the wizard of Australia".
The comment about the Israel-Hamas war was made when the conversation turned about New York Times's coverage of Mr Musk.
"If you're a high-profile figure like yourself, it's impossible to make everybody happy. So, there's going to be someone that says something s***** about you," Mr Rogan said.
"When it's in print, does that mean more, because other people are going to see this s**** thing? That's where it gets odd," he asked Mr Musk. "Essentially, an article in the New York Times is just a single person's opinion, and whatever editor gets involved."
"It's just a lot of people will read that," Mr Musk replied, "I find the New York Times these days to be hard to read."
Mr Rogan went on: "Well, unfortunately, they make some grave errors. Like that Hamas bombing the -"
"Hummus?" Mr Musk interrupted, and then both laughed at the clever wordplay.
"- the Israelis bombing the hospital," Mr Rogan finished the sentence.
During the three-hour episode, Mr Musk described his purchase of Twitter (now X) a "recipe for trouble", but that he went through with it because he was worried it was "having a corrosive effect on civilisation".
