Elon Musk calls Harris an ‘extinctionist’

Tech billionaire Elon Musk slammed Vice President Harris as an “extinctionist” in response to a resurfaced video of the vice president discussing the “climate anxiety” young people have felt when thinking about their futures.

“Shamala is an extinctionist. The natural extension of her philosophy would be a de facto holocaust for all of humanity!” Musk wrote Saturday on on the social platform X, which he owns.

Musk was responding to a video from September 2023, shared by former President Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., and Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) — his running mate — during which Harris argued the large young voter turnout in 2020 was in part due to their concerns about climate change.

“Because young people said, ‘We’re not leaving it to other people to decide how we’re dealing with the climate crisis’ — you know, I’ve heard young leaders talk with me about a term they’ve coined called ‘climate anxiety,'” Harris said at Reading (Pa.) Area Community College, as part of her “Fight for Our Freedoms” college tour.

“Which is fear of — of the future and the unknown of whether it makes sense for you to even think about having children, whether it makes sense for you to think about aspiring to buy a home … because what will this climate be?” she continued.

Sharing a 15-second clip of the remarks, Trump Jr. baselessly claimed Saturday that Harris was “suggesting young people should not have children due to climate change.”

Vance then reposted Trump Jr.’s comments on X, writing, “It’s almost like these people don’t want young people starting families or something. Really weird stuff.”

Harris’s remarks received initial scrutiny by some Republicans and political pundits last year, while some social media users claimed it was the economy that drove them to the polls.

The Hill reached out to Harris’s campaign for further comment.

Since launching her presidential bid a week ago in the wake of President Biden’s withdrawal from the race, Harris has faced a series of attacks from Republicans looking to see Trump back in office.