Elon Musk has purged some of his staff from SpaceX after a letter accusing his Tweets of being “embarrassing and distracting” was circulated.
Just hours after Musk Tweeted he had voted for Texas’ Republican candidate Mayra Flores on Wednesday, the letter was posted around SpaceX’s internal email accounts.
Clearly with a political bee in their bonnets, the disgruntled workers wrote they thought they company should distance itself from Musk’s “personal brand”, should “be more inclusive” and should uphold a “zero asshole policy”.
It went on to say that “SpaceX fails to apply these principles to the promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion with equal priority across the company, resulting in a workplace culture that remains firmly rooted in the status quo”.
In other words, Musk’s company isn’t adhering to the usual focus on identity politics and isn’t hiring people to fulfil a diversity quota for diversity’s sake.
The staff expressed a concern that Elon’s publicly expressed views, and one can only assume, given the timing of the email, they mean his newly founded support for the GOP, may reflect badly on the company:
“Elon’s behavior in the public sphere is a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us, particularly in recent weeks,” it reads before demanding SpaceX chiefs to take action against Musk within “one month”.
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BREAKING: Leaked Internal Slack Messages Show Twitter Employees Reaction to @ElonMusk's #TwitterAllHands Call pic.twitter.com/VMZ1Uoxu4E
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) June 16, 2022
“As our CEO and most prominent spokesperson, Elon is seen as the face of SpaceX — every Tweet that Elon sends is a de facto public statement by the company,” added the staff.
The letter was met with around 100 comments from other staff members who generally agreed with its content.
Musk is a prominent user of Twitter, often Tweeting his political opinions and recently announced that he would be voting Republican for the first time in his life, having been a life-long Democrat voter. He said that his views are “moderate” and that the Dems had become increasingly far-left.
So far, at least 5 members of staff have been fired after SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said the company had “terminated a number of employees involved“.
Shotwell said a number of employees who were forwarding the letter had been made to feel “uncomfortable, intimidated and bullied, and/or angry because the letter pressured them to sign onto something that did not reflect their views”.
This week, Musk voted for Republican Mayra Flores in South Texas who made history on Wednesday when she became the first ever Mexican-born congresswoman in the House.
“I voted for Mayra Flores – first time I ever voted Republican,” he Tweeted.
I voted for Mayra Flores – first time I ever voted Republican.
Massive red wave in 2022.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 15, 2022
He also voiced his support for the anti-woke conservative governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis who has become the ultimate bogeyman for liberals.
Musk Tweeted he predicted a “massive red wave in 2022” and when asked who he would support, he replied “DeSantis”.
The letter is one of many liberal tantrums since Musk’s successful Twitter takeover bid and his increasingly right-wing Tweets.
Last month, another disgruntled employee accused the billionaire of exposing himself to her, an accusation which Musk denies.
With the left-wing witch hunts against him continuing to amass, the poison-pen letter is probably not the last we’ll see of “Elongate”.