FIGURES within the Scottish independence movement have shown support for Humza Yousaf as his war of words with Twitter/X owner Elon Musk continued on Sunday.
The latest exchange happened on Sunday morning, with reports suggesting the former first minister’s legal team had issued a warning to Musk after he labelled Yousaf “super, super racist”.
Earlier this week, Yousaf used an appearance at the Fringe to brand Musk one of the most dangerous men on the planet.
He accused Musk of having “amplified” white supremacists and highlighted how he had claimed “civil war is inevitable” in the wake of far-right riots in England and Northern Ireland.
Responding on Twitter/X after the appearance, Musk said the former SNP leader is “super, super racist” and that “Scotland gave him everything and yet he loathes white people”.
Yousaf then again took to social media to describe Musk as a “dangerous race baiter who must be held to account for his actions”.
Many took to social media in support of Yousaf, including SNP MP Pete Wishart who said on Twitter/X: “What a dismal place Musk has created on here. Full of pedlars of misinformation, the far right and abusive anonymous trolls.
“We stick it out because of years of building followings, its reach and the hope that something might change.
“Seems little chance of that now…”
Elsewhere, writer and broadcaster Alistair Heather commented: “Mental that it’s come to this, but the billionaire running this app is accusing Humza Yousaf of being ‘super racist against white people’.
“No he isnae. Humza’s sound. Elon isnae.”
Scots singer Iona Fyfe also showed her support by sharing an image of her along with Humza Yousaf in response to Heather's post.
However, a number of accounts, including that of right-wing influencer Ian Miles Cheong, also shared a heavily edited clip of Yousaf discussing racial injustice which Musk had previously used to describe the former first minister as a “blatant racist”.
The clip in question has often been shared by alt-right figures suggesting it shows the SNP leader arguing that Scotland has too many white people.
The short snippet shows Yousaf delivering a speech to Holyrood on June 10 2020, when he was justice minister. At the time, protests were sweeping across the world after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police office.
Social media users then misrepresented the speech, selectively clipping the speech to suggest Yousaf was saying white people make up too much of Scotland’s population – when, in fact, it was a monologue about the lack of people of colour in positions of power.
