Evening Telegraph (First Edition)

Why is Yousaf at war with world’s wealthiest man?

ELON Musk, the erratic owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, has turned his fury on former first minister Humza Yousaf.

The pair are locked in a war of words on the social media platform after Mr Musk branded the Dundee-based politician a “super-super racist”.

There has even been a threat of legal action, but what caused the row? We’ve rounded it up so you don’t have to.

Mr Musk’s stooshie with Mr Yousaf comes after a week of attention on other British politician­s, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

The billionair­e, who also owns electric-car manufactur­er Tesla, has been heavily criticised for comments about anti-migrant riots in England and Northern Ireland.

He used his social media platform to claim “civil war” in the UK was “inevitable”, and has also criticised the lengthy prison sentences being handed out to those involved in the disruption, describing them as “messed up”.

Mr Musk suggested some groups were being treated more harshly than others.

Mr Yousaf took Mr Musk to task for his interventi­on.

Speaking at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, he described the X owner as “one of the most dangerous men on the planet” because of his “amplificat­ion” of disinforma­tion.

Referring to a speech Mr Yousaf made in Holyrood about racism in Scotland, Mr Musk hit back, saying: “He is super, super racist.

“Scotland gave him everything and yet he loathes white people.”

The war of words descended further on Sunday after the Sunday Mail reported that Mr Yousaf was considerin­g legal options in response to the statement.

His lawyer, Aamer Anwar, said: “Anybody who goes on social media, even if they own the platform and thinks that free speech is absolute whether in the UK or USA, needs to think again.

“Free speech carries responsibi­lity and if you break the law there are consequenc­es, as we have seen in recent days. Elon Musk has effectivel­y painted a target on Humza Yousaf’s back with his completely unacceptab­le, untrue and inflammato­ry comments.”

The newspaper said Mr Yousaf was understood to be considerin­g all his options and had not ruled out legal options.

Mr Musk went on to respond, calling Mr Yousaf a “scumbag”.

He tweeted: “He’s obviously super-racist against white people. I dare that scumbag to sue me. Go ahead, make my day.

“Legal discovery will show that however big a racist he’s been in public communicat­ions, he is vastly worse in private communicat­ions.”

It is not known what he is referring to when discussing “private communicat­ions”, but some have suggested he may have used his position to access Mr Yousaf’s private direct messages.

Mr Yousaf has been repeatedly targeted over his race and religion, and said last week that the riots had made him question his future in the UK.

He currently lives in Dundee with his family, including his wife, city councillor Nadia El-nakla, and young children.

He said: “You cut me open, I’m as about as Scottish as you come.

“But the truth of the matter is, I don’t know whether the future for me and my wife and my three children is going to be here in Scotland or the United Kingdom, or indeed in Europe and the West, because I have for some time really worried about the rise of Islamophob­ia.”