Elon Musk urges people to have more babies at right-wing festival

Elon Musk claimed people should have more babies to ensure their “culture” doesn’t “disappear” before raging about a “woke” virus at a right-wing event in Italy.

The billionaire attended the Atreju festival, which was hosted by the far-right Brothers of Italy party of Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, on Saturday (16 December) in Rome. 

Musk previously travelled to the Italian capital in June to meet with Meloni, who has a vast anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-immigration history, to discuss the dangers of artificial intelligence and Italy’s declining population. 

Italy has one of the lowest birth rates in the world. 

Musk, who has 11 children, took to the Atreju stage with one of his kids to claim that having more children is the only way to reverse the population decline in Italy and other industrialised countries. 

If people didn’t have more babies, Elon Musk alleged the “culture of Italy, Japan and France will disappear” somehow. 

“We are in danger of no longer having these countries,” the billionaire Tesla owner said.

Meloni’s right-wing coalition government – which includes Matteo Salvini’s far-right League and former PM Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right Forza Italia – has been preoccupied with addressing Italy’s population decline, and has earmarked around €1 billion for measures in support of families with children. 

Yet, Meloni has made it her mission to attack LGBTQ+ families who have children. The prime minister has demanded Italian councils remove queer mothers from children’s birth certificates, only registering biological parents on the document. 

The move left same-sex couples in legal limbo and rightfully fearful for their families’ futures in the country. 

A lesbian mum was devastated by the removal of her name from her child’s birth certificate, and she urged the government to think about all the families “living in fear” because of these hateful policies. 

In August, protestors gathered outside the Italian embassy in London to show solidarity for the country’s LGBTQ+ community and demand justice for the families impacted by Meloni’s decision. 

Giorgia Meloni has also publicly opposed surrogacy and adoption by queer couples. 

Her right-wing government is cracking down on gestational surrogacy – a practice already outlawed in Italy – and wants to make it a criminal offence for citizens to use surrogates abroad. Those found guilty could face a two-year jail sentence and a massive €1 million fine. 

Meloni reportedly made no mention of Musk having one of his children via surrogate with his then-partner Grimes in 2021. 

On top of asking people to have more babies, Elon Musk raged about a “woke mind virus” that he believes is gripping the US. It’s something he’s been roundly mocked for whining about in the past. 

When asked about advertisers who’ve abandoned X/Twitter, Elon Musk said he “will do well” and believed the mass exodus is a “short-term problem”. He then suggested those who have left the social media platform were infected with a so-called “woke” virus. 

On 3 December, Elon Musk attempted to start a feud with Paris Hilton after the reality TV star pulled her kitchenware ads from X/Twitter. It came after several big brands including Apple and Disney joined a mass advertising exodus from Musk’s X/Twitter after the billionaire businessman replied to a post sharing an antisemitic conspiracy theory, calling it “actual truth”.