Skip to main content

Elon Musk doubles down after vulgar criticism of coronavirus lockdowns

Tesla CEO Elon Musk still has more thoughts to share about the coronavirus lockdowns.

Recommended Videos

Musk continued his rant about coronavirus shelter-in-place measures on Twitter on Thursday morning, sharing an article that claimed America’s response to the coronavirus was based on panic, not facts, adding: “Why forced isolation is bad.” 

He also shared a graph from the California Health and Human Services Agency website depicting hospital bed occupancy in California.

“Hospitals in California have been half empty this whole time,” he said. 

When one user said they would unfollow Musk over his comments, the tech billionaire had a two-word response: “Bon voyage”

Elon Musk
Dan Taylor

Thursday’s tweets come a day after Musk railed against shelter-in-place guidelines during Tesla’s quarterly earnings call. 

Musk called the measures “fascist” and later used an expletive to express his frustration.

“To say that they cannot leave their house and they’ll be arrested if they do? This is fascist,” Musk said. “This is not democratic, this is not freedom. Give people back their goddamn freedom.”

Neither the California or federal shelter-in-place guidelines penalize those who go outside with arrest.

Musk first vented about the stay-home orders on Wednesday, tweeting “FREE AMERICA NOW,” which he has since pinned to the top of his Twitter account. 

The outspoken billionaire has 33.4 million followers on Twitter and has often weighed in about the coronavirus pandemic, infamously tweeting on March 6: “The coronavirus panic is dumb.”

Much of America has shelter-in-place orders at least through the end of May, with exceptions by some states like Texas, Florida, and others. However, experts have warned that lifting restrictions too soon could result in a surge of coronavirus case numbers and more deaths in the U.S.

As of Thursday, there have been more than 1.7 million confirmed cases in the U.S. and 61,570 deaths in the country. 

For the latest updates on the novel coronavirus outbreak, visit the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 page.

Allison Matyus
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Allison Matyus is a general news reporter at Digital Trends. She covers any and all tech news, including issues around social…
Elon Musk’s Starship update included movie of Mars mission
Elon Musk giving a Starship update in February 2022.

“Let’s make this real,” Elon Musk said to a crowd of enthusiastic supporters on Thursday night after watching a dramatic animation depicting a future Starship mission to a city on Mars.

The SpaceX boss was giving the first public update in two years on the progress of the company’s next-generation space transportation system that’s already part of NASA’s plans for a crewed lunar landing, and yes, could one day carry humans to Mars, too.

Read more
How to watch Elon Musk’s Starship update today
watch spacex land next gen starship rocket for first time sn10 high altitude flight test  edit

Starship Update

SpaceX boss Elon Musk is about to offer an update on the company’s progress with its next-generation Starship rocket.

Read more
Elon Musk’s Starlink helping to restore Tonga’s internet
Elon Musk

SpaceX chief Elon Musk has sent a team of Starlink engineers to the South Pacific to help get Tonga back online after a recent volcanic eruption severed the only cable connecting the island nation to the internet.

With repairs to the undersea cable still ongoing, and a population desperate to contact loved ones overseas, several politicians in the region have been making public calls asking Musk if he would be able to use his Starlink internet satellites to restore Tonga’s internet connection following the January 15 disaster.

Read more