In an interview with The Economist published in late July 2026, editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes asked Elon Musk directly whether he is anti-Muslim.
He paused, then did not answer yes or no. What he said instead, and what happened when the interviewer pushed back, is set out below in full.
The exchange
Minton Beddoes put the question directly. According to reporting of the interview, Musk paused briefly and did not give a yes-or-no answer.
Elon Musk“If people are coming to a country with antithetical views, I am against that… I’m against rape and murder, I’m against the imposition of rules and laws that are contrary to what we’ve come to accept in the West.”
He added that it was a crying shame that traditional media did not recognise this, and said that people characterised as being on the far right were “just normal people”.
That is an observation about the structure of the exchange, not a conclusion about what he believes. Readers can draw their own. What this site will not do is convert a non-answer into an admission — a non-answer is not a yes.
The “reckoning”
Musk went on to describe what he expects to follow from Muslim immigration to Britain:
Elon Musk“If you have a… large and growing, rapidly growing, group of people whose beliefs are antithetical to Western beliefs, at some point there will be a reckoning.”
Pressed on his earlier statements that civil war in Britain was inevitable — posted during the disorder that followed the Southport killings in August 2024 — he said that this was the position on the current trend.
The pushback
Minton Beddoes did not let the claims stand, and her challenge is part of the record:
Zanny Minton Beddoes“That is nonsense. The numbers also disprove what you say. London is a much safer city than any city in the US.”
“You have painted Europe and the UK as overrun with terrifying Muslim immigrants, there’s rape on every corner, there’s civilisational destruction.”
Musk responded that he had not said any of those things. He also conceded, when asked, that he had not visited Britain in several years — while saying he had been there “literally a hundred times”.
In January 2025 he posted that Sir Keir Starmer was “complicit in the RAPE OF BRITAIN”, that Starmer was “deeply complicit in the mass rapes in exchange for votes”, and that a quarter of a million girls were and still are being systematically raped by migrant gangs in Britain — a figure for which no source has ever been produced. In August 2024 he posted that civil war in Britain was inevitable. Those are on the record. See Elon Musk and the UK grooming gangs posts.
“I’m not racist”
In the same interview he denied being racist, citing his personal relationships — reported by The Telegraph under the headline that his partner is half Indian.
What this page does not say
This page does not conclude that Elon Musk is anti-Muslim, or that he is not. He was asked, he answered in the words above, and those words are reproduced in full alongside the interviewer’s challenge and his denial.
Nor does this page treat opposition to immigration, or concern about the compatibility of legal systems and social norms, as evidence of hostility to a religion. Those are mainstream political positions argued in good faith across Europe, and conflating them with religious animus would be the same error this site rejects on the DEI pages.
The specific factual claims made in the interview — about crime rates, demographic trends and what he has previously said — are checkable, and where we have checked them, we say so and show the source.
Outstanding on this page
The interview should be cited to The Economist‘s own publication of it and to the recording, rather than to secondary reporting. We have not confirmed the exact publication date, the full context surrounding each quotation, or whether the passages quoted here are contiguous. Video of the exchange exists and should be archived. Where the transcript differs from the reporting relied on here, the transcript governs and this page will be corrected.
Sources
- Elon Musk: I’m not racist – my partner is half IndianThe Telegraph via Yahoo News · July 2026
- ‘I am against rape and murder’: Elon Musk denies racism in civil war warning to BritainIBTimes UK · July 2026 · the Minton Beddoes challenge
- Asked if he’s anti-Muslim, Elon Musk respondsThe Siasat Daily · 24 July 2026 · location, the pause, the non-answer
- Elon Musk says he’s ‘against rape and murder’ when asked if he’s anti-MuslimVideo clip of the exchange · July 2026
This article follows the standards set out in How This Site Sources Its Claims. If you believe anything on this page is inaccurate, please use our corrections policy and right of reply. Corrections are published, dated and logged.