Elon Musk ridiculed for multi-day meltdown after contentious interview

Elon Musk is facing fresh mockery after attacking Economist editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes days after she pressed him on a series of contradictions during a combative interview.

Musk sat down with Beddoes for an interview published Thursday that quickly turned tense. When Beddoes challenged Musk on how his predicted utopian future of abundant artificial intelligence and robot labor squared with his repeated claims that Europe is being ruined by immigrants, Musk struggled to answer, saying only, “I don’t think they’re inconsistent.”

Beddoes also pushed him on accusations of racism, which he denied by citing his partner Shivon Zillis’s heritage, and on whether he’s anti-Muslim, which he was noticeably less willing to deny outright.

By the interview’s end, Musk pivoted to grievance, insisting his following of “a quarter billion people” on X proved he was more liked than disliked, and that “a lot more people hate you and the media more than you realize.”

Musk’s behavior during the interview was described as a “melt down” in an analysis published by Gizmodo on Thursday, and by Saturday, Musk apparently still had the interview fresh on his mind.

“She is a traitor to the West, plain and simple,” Musk wrote on his social media platform X Saturday night, referring to Beddoes.

Journalist and former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan responded with a pointed jab at the Tesla CEO and trillionaire.

“Musk did an interview with the editor of the Economist, a posh white woman, centrist, daughter of an army officer,” Hasan wrote in a social media post on X. “It went badly for Musk. So now she’s a ‘traitor to the West.’ Totally normal response from a normal guy.”

Musk did an interview with the editor of the Economist, a posh white woman, centrist, daughter of an army officer. It went badly for Musk. So now she’s a ‘traitor to the West.’ Totally normal response from a normal guy. https://t.co/fw53DxFerz — Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) July 25, 2026