Humza Yousaf responds after Elon Musk brands him a ‘blatant racist’

Humza Yousaf has responded to Elon Musk after the owner of X branded him a “blatant racist” in a social media post.

The first minister responded by posting a Still Game reference to X after Musk hit out at him online.

The comment was in reaction to a speech made by the then-justice secretary in 2020 to the Scottish Parliament following the murder of George Floyd, in which he listed examples showing the lack of diversity in leadership positions in Scottish public life.  

Musk, who has 161m followers, posted “what a blatant racist!” after the speech was re-circulated on social media this week.  

In the speech, Yousaf said: “We have to accept the reality and the evidence that is in front of us, that Scotland has a problem of structural racism.”

In response to Musk, the first minster posted: “Racists foaming at the mouth at my very existence.” He shared a gif of Navid Harrid from the popular Scottish sitcom Still Game dancing behind the counter of his shop, captioning it: "Me."

A spokesperson for the first minister said: “The first minister has been on the receiving end of racist hate, abuse and death threats his entire life, and has stood firm against hatred and bigotry, of any kind, throughout.  

“Sadly, much of the racist abuse and threats of violence the first minister faces are directed his way on X - formerly known as Twitter.  

“Mr Musk should use his position to tackle racism and hatred that goes unchecked on the social media platform he owns.”