Elon Musk Tells Bill Maher ‘Woke Mind Virus’ Is Dangerous On ‘Real Time’

Last night on HBO‘s Real Time, self-proclaimed free speech warrior Elon Musk told Bill Maher that he feels the “woke mind virus” is dangerous. He also said he considers himself a “moderate” when it comes to politics.

Many critics of the Tesla co-founder and CEO say he’s become conservative based on the way he runs Twitter since acquiring the social media platform last year for $44 billion.

“I think we need to be very cautious about anything that is anti-meritocratic and anything that results in the suppression of free speech,” said Musk.

He added: “So those are two of the aspects of the ‘woke mind virus’ that I think are very dangerous…. you can’t question things, even the questioning is bad. Almost synonymous would be cancel culture. And obviously people have tried to cancel you many times.”

Musk fired back at critics who have branded him right-wing. “I, at least, think of myself as a moderate,” he said. “I spent a massive amount of my life energy building sustainable energy, you know, electric vehicles, and batteries, and solar. It’s not exactly far-right.”

He added: “Free speech used to be a left or liberal value, and yet we see from the quote ‘left’ a desire to actually censor, and that seems crazy.”

“We should be extremely concerned about anything that undermines the First Amendment,” he insisted.

Musk later rounded out his thoughts by saying: “My concern with Twitter was to that it is somewhat of the digital town square and it’s important that there be both the reality and perception of trust for a wide range of viewpoints.”

You can watch a clip of the interview above or the full interview below and catch new episodes of Real Time with Bill Maher on Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on HBO.