Elon Musk doubles down on criticism of George Soros despite being branded anti-Semitic, as he slams billionaire for funding politicians and DAs 'who are soft on violent crime' and 'caused great damage to many cities'

• Elon Musk on Monday said billionaire philanthropist and Holocaust survivor George Soros 'hates humanity', and likened him to X-Men villain Magneto
• Magneto aimed to conquer the world to enable mutants to replace humans: Musk was accused of anti-Semitism, and apologized - to Magneto
• On Thursday Musk doubled down, saying he felt Soros 'funded so many politicians & DAs who are soft even on violent crime', harming U.S. cities

Elon Musk doubled down on his criticism of billionaire financier George Soros on Thursday, arguing that the progressive philanthropist was supporting elected officials whose policies harmed U.S. cities.

Musk, 51, compared Soros, 92, to X-Men supervillain Magneto - a character who manipulates the world and thinks mutants should be in charge, rather than humans.

He made the comments on Twitter on Monday, following the announcement that Soros' investment fund had dumped all of their Tesla stock.

Soros, a Hungarian-born billionaire, heads the Open Society Foundation and is a Holocaust survivor.

Musk was accused of peddling anti-Semitic tropes about Jewish people pulling strings and controlling the world, and in a bizarre interview on Tuesday with CNBC he poured fuel on the fire.

On Thursday, Musk returned to the theme, saying he had issues with Soros's philanthropy.

Musk responded to Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, saying that the South African-born billionaire was not anti-Semitic, but his remarks were dangerous.

'He's arguably the most influential person on the planet controlling what's essentially our public square. When he repeats conspiracy theories, that feeds the extremists,' said Greenblatt.

Musk replied: 'In fairness, I must concede that Joel has a good point and I will endeavor to be more thoughtful in the future.'

He later corrected to tweet to say 'Jonathan'.  

Musk continued: 'Comic book analogies are obviously imperfect, to say the least. 

'Just because George Soros can bend metal using his mind doesn't mean he's Magneto!! 

'Anyway, my actual concern with Soros is that he has funded so many politicians & DAs who are soft even on violent crime, which has caused great damage to many cities imo. 

'Also, while I am very much in favor of expanding legal immigration, we must have some vetting of who comes in, so that we do not allow dangerous felons to prey upon innocent Americans.'

In a statement on Tuesday, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Musk's tweet had resulted in a flood of conspiracy theories and the hashtag 'The Jews' to trend on the platform. 

During his strange interview with CNBC's David Faber, Musk was asked about his Soros tweets, and responded by embarking on a bizarre tangent about the 1987 fairytale adventure, The Princess Bride.

'I'll say what I want to say and if the consequence of that is losing money so be it,' said Musk.

Musk tells Faber: 'I said he reminds me of Magneto, you know calm down people.'

Faber asks: 'When you do something like that, why share it? Why share it when people who buy Tesla's may not agree with you, advertisers on Twitter may not agree with you, why share it wide?'

Musk responds: 'Freedom of speech, I'm allowed to say what I want.'

Faber told him: 'It puts you in a middle of a partisan divide in the country, it makes you a lightning rod for criticism. Do you like that?'

Musk said that he was a 'pro-Semite', and after a lengthy awkward silence totaling 12 seconds he goes into a bizarre tirade and quotes 1987 film The Princess Bride.

'I'm reminded of a scene in The Princess Bride, where  he confronts the person who kills his father. 

'He says, 'Offer me money. Offer me power. I don't care'.'

Musk then says: 'I'll say what I want to say and if the consequence of that is losing money so be it.'

In response, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted: 'The phrase 'The Jews' jumped to the list of trending topics on Twitter today following an anti-Semitic tweet by none other than the owner and CEO of the social network, Elon Musk.

Musk's tweet immediately resulted in a flood of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories on Twitter. 

'Unfortunately Twitter does nothing to address this problem.'

David Saranga, the director of the digital diplomacy bureau at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, tweeted: 'It reminds me of Niemöller's words which are prominently featured on a wall of the Holocaust Museum in Washington.

''First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a socialist. 

''Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews

''I did not speak out - because I was not a Jew. 

''Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak for me.' 

'Niemöller's words serve as an indictment of passivity and indifference during the Holocaust'.

Musk did not explain the reasoning behind his outburst, but the tweet was posted shortly after a regulatory filing revealed that Soros' office had dumped its entire stake in Tesla.

Tesla shares have surged by nearly 54 percent since the start of the year, though the value of the stake that Soros had is not currently clear.

Greenblatt tweeted: 'Soros often is held up by the far-right, using anti-Semitic tropes, as the source of the world's problems. 

'To see Elon Musk, regardless of his intent, feed this segment — comparing him to a Jewish supervillain, claiming Soros 'hates humanity' — is not just distressing, it's dangerous.

'It will embolden extremists who already contrive anti-Jewish conspiracies and have tried to attack Soros and Jewish communities as a result.'

CEO of American Jewish Committee Ted Deutch told CNN: 'The tweet about this notion that Soros hates humanity, is trying to destroy civilization just plays into the classical anti-Semitic conspiracy theory about Jewish wealth and power.

'We've seen anti-Semitism surge since Musk took over at Twitter, our own survey show that two thirds of Jews have experienced anti-Semitism online, 85% of those under 30.

 'It is unacceptable and dangerous.'

On Wednesday afternoon, Elon again refused to back down on his comments. 

In response to his original tweet, he said: 'I'd like to apologize for this post.'

But he quickly followed up with: 'It was really unfair to Magneto.'  

It comes after a study found that anti-Semitic tweets soared after Musk's takeover, a 105 percent increase following the $4 billion deal.