Elon Musk posted then hastily deleted a tweet saying 'LIBERTY' surrounded by US flags after calling coronavirus lockdowns 'fascist'
- Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted — and then quickly deleted — the word "LIBERTY" alongside American flag emojis and a picture of a swearing unicorn on Thursday morning.
- The deleted tweet comes only a day after Musk called US shelter-in-place orders "fascist" and said that they're "breaking people's freedom," during a Tesla conference call on Wednesday.
- In the last few weeks, the billionaire has questioned how effective lockdown orders were for saving lives during the coronavirus pandemic.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk continued to challenge the coronavirus lockdown measures across the US by tweeting the word "LIBERTY" before quickly deleting it.
In the early hours of April 20, Musk tweeted the word in all caps, alongside several American flag emojis and a picture of a unicorn swearing. It was taken down within two hours.
The deleted tweet comes a day after the billionaire called US shelter-in-place orders "fascist" and said they were "forcibly imprisoning" people in their homes during a company conference call on Wednesday.
"Frankly, I would call it forcible imprisoning of people in their homes against all of their constitutional rights, in my opinion," he said during the Tesla meeting. "It's breaking people's freedoms in ways that are horrible and wrong and not why they came to America or built this country. What the f--k. Excuse me. Outrage. Outrage."
The billionaire has become especially vocal on social media after lockdown protests, which have taken place in several US states. Earlier this week, he urged leaders to "FREE AMERICA NOW," in a tweet that hasn't been taken down.
Last week, Tesla ignored state instructions to keep staff to a minimum until May 4 by announcing that some of its employees will return to work on April 29. But on Tuesday, the company said they are canceling the plans to make employees come back to work.
On Wednesday, the company announced a surprise profit in the first quarter of 2020, despite being forced to close its main factory in California because of the coronavirus crisis.
- Read more:
- Elon Musk says Tesla's 'battery day' in May will be 'the most exciting day' in company history
- Elon Musk announces that early access to the Starlink satellite-internet project will launch this year
- Elon Musk ripped US infrastructure, calling many American airports an 'embarrassment'
- Tesla turns a surprise profit despite coronavirus factory shutdowns