Opinion
Elon Musk defends free speech, anti-DEI position in combative Don Lemon interview
From LifeSiteNews
Elon Musk and Don Lemon sparred over DEI, illegal immigration, and free speech in a new interview.
In an interview that aired on X, Elon Musk calmly explained to a seemingly befuddled Don Lemon the principle of free speech. Musk also spoke about the dangers of lowering standards in medical schools in the name of DEI, recently eating breakfast with former President Donald Trump, and the “woke mind virus.”
Musk was a guest on episode 1 of The Don Lemon Show, which aired on X (formerly Twitter). Around 30 minutes into the interview, Lemon pressed Musk on whether he has a responsibility to moderate “hate speech” on the platform. After a back-and-forth, Musk ultimately got to the heart of the matter when he articulated: “Freedom of speech only is relevant when people you don’t like say things you don’t like. Otherwise it has no meaning.”
The Don Lemon Show episode 1: Elon Musk
TIMESTAMPS:
(02:23) News on X
(10:07) Donald Trump and Endorsing a Candidate
(13:04) The New Tesla Roadster
(16:46) Relaxation and Video Games
(17:54) Tweeting and Drug Use
(23:19) The Great Replacement Theory
(30:03) Content Moderation… pic.twitter.com/bLRae4DhyO— Don Lemon (@donlemon) March 18, 2024
Later in the interview, Musk emphasized that he “acquired X in order to preserve freedom of speech in America, the First Amendment. I’m gonna stick to that. And if that means making less money [from advertisers], so be it.”
‘Moderation is a propaganda word for censorship’
During their free speech exchange, Lemon showed Musk screenshots of several anti-semitic and racist tweets, saying, “These have been up there for a while.”
“Are they illegal?” Musk asked.
“They’re not illegal, but they’re hateful and they can lead to violence. As I just read to you, the shooters in all of these mass shootings attributed social media to radicalizing them,” Lemon retorted.
“So Don, you love censorship, is what you’re saying,” smirked Musk.
The reason @DonLemon has no idea what "free speech" and "censorship" are is simple:
He spent years living inside a Democratic/liberal bubble. In that bubble, it is Gospel that a union of state and corporate power should be weaponized to silence dissent:pic.twitter.com/3wMwGLXuQ8 https://t.co/pw4Nwybb7o
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) March 19, 2024
He went on to say, “Moderation is a propaganda word for censorship… Look, if something’s illegal, we’re going to take it down. If it’s not illegal, then we’re putting our thumb on the scale and we’re being censors” if X removes it.
Lemon responded that some would say removing child pornography is censorship, to which Musk replied, “I literally said, ‘if something is illegal, okay, we will obviously remove it.’ But if it is not illegal – the laws of this country are put forward by the citizens, if those laws put in place by the people – we adhere to those laws… – If you go beyond the law, you’re actually going beyond the will of the people.”
Musk also emphasized that if something is on the platform, that doesn’t necessarily mean that X is promoting it or that anyone is seeing it, and said that since he’s taken over the company, the reach of content deemed “hateful” is actually down.
DEI and the ‘woke mind virus’
An antagonistic Lemon also brought up diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Musk had recently replied to a thread on X from the Daily Wire‘s Ben Shapiro about top medical schools abandoning “all sort[s] of metrics” for surgeons in the name of DEI.
Following our investigation, Duke Medical School has taken down videos in which one of its doctors, Vignesh Raman, admitted to "abandoning … all sort[s] of metrics" in hiring surgeons for the sake of DEI. Unfortunately for Duke, we saved copies.
As @elonmusk aptly put it, DEI… https://t.co/Y2688meJxX
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) February 27, 2024
“If the standards for passing medical exams and becoming a doctor, or especially something like a surgeon – if the standards are lowered, then the probability that the surgeon will make a mistake is higher. [If] they’re making mistakes in their exam, they may make mistakes with people and that may result in people dying,” Musk articulated.
“Okay, I understand that. But that’s a hypothetical. That doesn’t mean it’s happening,” said Lemon, to which Musk replied, “I didn’t say it was happening.”
Elon Musk tries to explain how lowering the standards for doctors could result in more deaths.
Don Lemon is unable to grasp the concept.
This entire exchange is incredible. pic.twitter.com/QJ3efuvVAb
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) March 18, 2024
Lemon brought up medicine’s historical mistreatment of minorities, and asked, “Most doctors now are white, and there are lots of mistakes in medicine, so you’re saying that – white doctors have – bad medical care? I’m trying to understand your logic here when it comes to DEI because there’s no actual evidence of what you’re saying.”
Concerning DEI in the airline industry, Lemon went on to ask Musk if he believes women and minority pilots are inherently less intelligent and skilled, to which the billionaire replied, “No, I’m just saying that we should not lower the standards for them.”
The exchange continued:
Lemon: “Why would they be lowering the standards?”
Musk: “I don’t know, why are they lowering the standards?”
Lemon: “Just so you know, five percent of pilots are female. Four percent are black. So you’re talking about this widespread takeover of minorities and women when that’s not actually true.”
Musk: “I’m not saying there’s a widespread takeover.”
Lemon: “Well you’re saying that the standards are being lowered because of certain people.”
Lemon, sounding incredulous, also asked Musk, “Do you not believe in diversity, equity, and inclusion?”
“I think we should be – treat people according to their skills and their integrity, and that’s it,” he responded.
He later elaborated, “Woke mind virus is when you stop caring about people’s skills and their integrity and you start focusing instead on gender and race and other things that are different from that… the woke mind virus is fundamentally racist, fundamentally sexist, and fundamentally evil.”
“Don Lemon versus Elon Musk is like watching a lightweight in the ring against Mike Tyson—and I mean Tyson in his prime. The lightweight is flat on his back, and what’s more, he’s so comatose he doesn’t even know he’s been knocked out,” conservative filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza wrote on X.
Musk may endorse a candidate for president ‘in the final stretch,’ and if he does, ‘will explain exactly why’
Earlier during the interview, Musk shared that he’d recently been at a friend’s house for breakfast and Donald Trump came by.
“Let’s just say he did most of the talking,” said Musk, but Trump didn’t say anything “groundbreaking or new.”
“I may in the final stretch endorse a candidate… if I do decide to endorse a candidate, I will explain exactly why,” Musk told Lemon, noting he’s “leaning away from Biden” but “I’ve made no secret of that.”
Lemon’s new show was originally slated to be an X production, but Musk ultimately canceled the deal, although the show is still posted on the platform. Lemon had asked for “a free Tesla Cybertruck, a $5 million upfront payment on top of an $8 million salary, an equity stake in the multibillion-dollar company, and the right to approve any changes in X policy as it relates to news content,” the New York Post reported.
International
Boris Johnson Urges Ukraine to Continue War
By Martin Armstrong
Trump’s proposal for peace in Ukraine has been met with an overwhelming condemnation from the world’s neocons. Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson reemerges from the shadows whenever he hears word that a war may be winding down. He played an instrumental role in persuading Zelensky not to negotiate a peace treaty with Russia when it was apparent that Ukraine could not easily win, and now, Johnson is urging Ukraine to continue the war.
“Imagine that you are Vladimir V. Putin and you are spending a calm Saturday in the Kremlin… You casually watch the television news, and you cannot help but smile at the incompetence of your opponents, at the astonishing weakness of the West. You have lost more than a million soldiers, killed and wounded, in your attempts to subdue Ukraine. You have still failed to capture more than 20 percent of the country’s territory. Your economy is faltering. And now they are talking about some new 28-point plan to end the war – and it could have been written entirely by the Kremlin,” Johnson warned.
In typical neocon fashion, Johnson wants to paint the proposal as a victory for Russia. He acknowledges millions have died, but since they are Russian, their lives do not matter. Continue the slaughter at the expense of the people.
Johnson declared that Britain was in a proxy war with Russia back in November 2024. “It has been pathetic… Let’s face it: We’re waging a proxy war but not giving our proxies the ability to do the job. For years now, we’ve been allowing them to fight with one hand tied behind their backs, and it has been cruel,” he admitted one year ago. Why would Britain feel threatened by Russia? Why would any sane leader thrust their people into a battle that is not theirs to fight?
The head of M16, Sir Richard Moore, also came out in November 2024, admitting British intelligence was discreetly fighting on behalf of Ukraine. “We cherish our heritage of covert action, which we keep alive today in helping Ukraine resist the Russian invasion,” Moore commented.
Moore and Johnson know that Russia has no incentive to invade Europe, especially Britian. There is absolutely nothing for Putin to gain. Europe, on the other hand, has everything to gain through conflict with Russia. They see Ukraine as the ultimate entryway into Russia
War is a great way to default on debts. You get to form a new government, and they always disavow the debts of the previous government. Europe has been committing economic suicide. Between the COVID-19 Lockdowns, the NET-ZERO Climate Change, and then the sanctions on Russia that doubled their fuel costs, you could not ask for a more brain-dead group of politicians who have ZERO comprehension of even how the economy functions.
Plain and simple—Russia invaded due to the West’s failure to honor the Minsk Agreement. The neocons disregard the proposal entirely and conveniently disregard the original signed agreement when discussing conceding territory.
“The document offers Ukrainians not only to give up any attempts to reclaim Crimea or Donbas, but also to cede vast territories, including about 250,000 Ukrainians whom the Russians do not even control. Of course, you knew your negotiators would try something like that. But you never believed anyone would take this seriously. You can’t believe that President Trump would back this plan, because it is a complete betrayal of Ukraine,” Johnson continued in his recent writing.
LET THE PEOPLE VOTE! The ethnically Russian people living in Ukraine have been unable to decide on their leadership. Zelensky outlawed their religion and language. Everyone believes they are protecting the people in these regions from the other side, but only one side is open to learning the people’s wishes. The 28-point plan saves the PEOPLE of both Russia and Ukraine. Russia cannot abandon the war without guarantees that NATO will back down and Ukraine is merely an EU puppet. Zelensky now has two days to decide whether he is willing to destroy his nation for the neocons.
Daily Caller
EXCLUSIVE: Here’s An Inside Look At The UN’s Disastrous Climate Conference

From the Daily Caller News Foundation
By Audrey Streb
The United Nations’ annual climate conference concluded Saturday, and some critics in attendance told the Daily Caller News Foundation that it was a chaotic affair.
After Thursday’s fire forced an evacuation and temporarily halted the talks, COP30 was prolonged by an extra day. Corporate media outlets and green groups critiqued the final agreement reached on Saturday, arguing that it did not do enough to restrict carbon emissions. The environmental groups claimed the resolution departed from COP28’s declaration which called for an end to fossil fuels.
Hosted in Belém, Brazil, COP30 provoked backlash after developers razed the Amazon rainforest ahead of the climate talks and China worked to seize the spotlight in America’s absence. Craig Rucker, co-founder and president of the conservative nonprofit known as the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow,(CFACT) told the DCNF that this year’s UN climate talks were especially chaotic and disorganized.
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“I’ve been to 27 of the 30 conferences. … What you see on the ground is just how chaotic it’s gotten. There was a certain chaos in the past, but this was particularly disorganized because they picked a venue that I think was unsuited for all the delegates that were coming in,” Rucker told the DCNF in an interview. “They wanted to emphasize the rainforest, yet hypocritically, they’re chopping them down to accommodate delegates flying in on private jets.”
The UN did not respond to the DCNF’S request for comment.
Rucker and Marc Morano, who publishes CFACT’s ClimateDepot.com, ventured into the Amazon rainforest to investigate the four-lane highway initially reported by BBC in March. Rucker told the DCNF that Brazil was “still cutting and burning. We heard the chainsaws ourselves, and this is something they [the Brazilian state] try to keep [quiet].”
The highway, known as Avenida Liberdade, was shelved multiple times in the past due to environmental concerns but revived as part of a broader push to modernize Belém ahead of COP30, according to the outlet. State officials say the development efforts will leave a lasting legacy, including an expanded airport, new hotels and an ungraded port to accommodate cruise ships.
The Brazilian state denied that the highway was built for the climate conference, noting that plans for the road were underway as early as 2020 — well before Brazil was selected to host COP30, Reuters reported in March.
President Donald Trump sharply criticized the conference for deforesting portions of the Amazon to ease travel for environmentalist attendees. The U.S. did not send an official delegation this year.
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse attended the talks, where they denounced the Trump administration’s energy policies and absence.
A top United Nations official reportedly directed Brazilian authorities to address concerns including leaky light fixtures, sweltering heat and lackluster security at the conference, according to Bloomberg News. Days later, the fire broke out.
Morano also documented water pouring from vents, and Rucker told the DCNF that attendees were not allowed to flush toilet paper as the venue “didn’t have a septic system.”
Rucker also recalled what he described as elitism, noting that delegates were in the “blue zone” while other attendees and indigenous groups were relegated to the “green zone.”
“The blue zone is where the official delegates go, the people that are from Spain, Portugal, Brazil. … And these are the people that make the decisions,” Rucker said. “The indigenous people, they say, don’t have a voice allowed in there. That’s partially why they crashed it.”
Though COP30 did host several events featuring indigenous voices, some native groups stormed the COP30 venue the first week, demanding their voice be heard by the UN.
Rucker told the DCNF that China seemed to have become a “new leader” on the environmentalism and green energy front at the climate conference, though the oriental nation is “pumping out with two coal plants per week.”
Recent media reports have hailed China as a giant in building out “renewables,” though China is far from dependent on intermittent resources like solar and wind as it also churns out new coal plants and is the world’s top emitter.
“They genuinely looked at China as the world leader on climate change,” Rucker noted, branding it as “totally bizarre.”
Rucker recalled that upon the entrance of the “blue zone,” there was a “very impressive Chinese booth.”
Additionally, a statue demeaning Trump stood outside COP30, according to Reuters, as well as a horned jaguar-dragon hybrid statue with its hands gripping the globe. The fanged construction purportedly represented China and Brazil partnering to protect the rainforest.
“The statues are purely political statements: one symbolizes how communism is alive and well in Brazil and China, and the other is a misguided attempt to shame or critique Trump,” Director of the Arthur B. Robinson Center on Climate and Environmental Policy at The Heartland Institute Sterling Burnett told the DCNF. “Trump’s promotion of fossil-fuel development and broader use — especially encouraging developing countries to tap into affordable energy — will do more to help children in poor countries than all the climate agreements and green energy scams combined.”
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