Elon Musk Fires Back at Claims His Transgender Child ‘Hates’ Him

Billionaire Elon Musk clashed with California Gov. Gavin Newsom on social media as a dispute escalated into personal barbs.

Their testy exchange began on Dec. 11 after Musk’s America PAC shared on X a clip from The New York Times’ “Ezra Klein Show” podcast, in which Newsom briefly discussed the issue of transgender athletes in women’s sports.

In that interview, aired on Dec. 10, Newsom maintained that it is not fair to allow men identifying as transgender to compete against women, a position that has drawn criticism from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.

“I want to see trans kids. I have a trans godson. There’s no governor that’s signed more pro-trans legislation than I have. No one has been a stronger advocate for the LGBTQ community,” Newsom told Klein. “But you have to accommodate the reality of those whose rights are being taken away as we advance the rights of the trans community, in terms of the fairness of athletic competition.”

In response to the America PAC post, which appeared to focus on Newsom’s comment that he “wants to see trans kids,” the governor’s press office took a jab at Musk.

“Correct. We’re sorry your daughter hates you, Elon,” they wrote, referring to Musk’s estranged son who identifies as transgender and goes by the name Vivian Jenna Wilson.

Musk, who owns X, responded: “I assume you’re referring to my son, Xavier, who has a tragic mental illness caused by the evil woke mind virus you push on vulnerable children. I love Xavier very much and hope he recovers. My daughters are Azure, Exa, and Arcadia, and they do indeed love me very much.”

Musk then pinned a post to his profile stating, “If you have a womb, you are a woman. Otherwise, you are not.”

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) weighed in on the dispute, responding directly to Newsom and calling on him to “leave kids alone.”

Palantir founder Jon Lonsdale similarly condemned the message as “raw evil,” calling it inappropriate for a government account.

Musk’s son did not engage directly on X, instead posting a series of pointed messages on Meta’s Threads platform.

“My bandwidth for cowardly men grows thinner with each passing day,” one post read.

“I would like to remind the internet and Ted Cruz that I am in my 20s,” said another.

Wilson’s Instagram and Threads profiles have also been updated to include the words, “tragic mental illness caused by the evil woke mind virus,” echoing Musk’s remarks.

Wilson is one of six children Musk shares with his first wife, Justine Wilson, from whom he was divorced in 2008. In 2022, Wilson filed a petition in a California court to legally change the name and gender marker, dropping the Musk surname and stating, “I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form.”

In a July 2024 interview with Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson, Musk said he was “tricked” into approving puberty blockers for Wilson at the age of 16 because he did not have “any understanding of what was going on.” He described puberty blockers as “sterilization drugs” and said he had “lost” his son.

The experience appeared to have fueled Musk’s grievance with California, where Wilson attended a Los Angeles–area school. In 2023, Musk accused the school of turning his child into “a full communist” who believes that “anyone rich is evil.”

Days before Musk’s interview with Peterson, Musk announced plans to relocate SpaceX’s headquarters from California to Texas. He cited legislation signed by Newsom that prohibits school districts from requiring staff to notify parents if a student uses a name or pronoun not aligned with his or her sex, or if the student engages in activities and uses space designed for the opposite sex.

“This is the final straw,” Musk wrote on X at the time. “I did make it clear to Governor Newsom about a year ago that laws of this nature would force families and companies to leave California to protect their children.”