Elon Musk Has Brought 'The R-Word' Back -- And It's Part Of A Disturbing New Trend [View all]

Source: HuffPost

Elon Musk Has Brought 'The R-Word' Back — And It's Part Of A Disturbing New Trend

Brittany Wong
Sat, March 22, 2025 at 3:00 AM EDT 10 min read

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Musk ― who’s always been something of a shit poster, even at 53 ― has directed the word at famed Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen, actor Ben Stiller, and most recently, Timothy Snyder, a Yale history professor and authoritarianism expert who got under Musk’s skin by criticizing the Trump administration.

“I’m tempted to call this guy a retard but I won’t because I’ve used that word too many times,” Musk tweeted to his almost 200 million followers on Feb. 22 in response to commentary from Snyder.

You can’t lay the blame for the R-word’s comeback all at Musk’s feet ― it’s true that 4-Chan posters and wannabe edge lord comedians never stopped using the word ― but it’s undeniable that Musk’s voice has an impact. A recent study out of Montclair State University found that the use of the slur triples on X when the tech CEO tweets the word himself.

“Unfortunately the R-word is a word that is starting to come back into conversation because more people in positions of power — whether they be political leaders, business leaders, celebrities — are using it as part of their normal dialogue,” said Christy Weir, who works for the Special Olympics, the world’s largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.

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Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/elon-musk-brought-r-word-070012964.html