Elon Musk says everyone should 'move on' from focusing on racism

• "The Don Lemon Show" premiered on Monday with an Elon Musk interview.
• The owner of Tesla and X told Lemon that society blamed "a lot of things on racism."

Elon Musk is done with hearing people complain about racism.

During a wide-ranging interview on "The Don Lemon Show" — which included Musk saying he felt upset by some of the questions — Don Lemon asked the X owner about his stance on racism.

"I think being aware of inequities in society is fine, of course, but trying to make everything a race issue is divisive and corrosive to society," Musk told Lemon.

He said society blamed "a lot of things" on racism, and that was unfair. His proposed solution, he said, was to "treat everyone according to who they are as an individual."

"I think we should not make this a constant subject. I think we need to move on," he added.

"You cannot have a situation where someone is a self-described victim, and they just get to be that because that's how they feel," Musk said to Lemon about race and gender issues.

While he did concur with Lemon that racism existed in an extreme capacity during the time of transatlantic slave trade, Musk said it was time to "look to the future rather than the past."

"If we keep talking about it nonstop, it'll never go away," Musk said.

When the former CNN host pressed Musk about racism's place in the 21st century, Musk asked exactly what advantages he'd been given as a white person.

"There's an ease that you have in society that many people of color don't," Lemon, who's Black, said — to which the Tesla CEO raised an eyebrow.

Musk has been vocal about his dislike of policies for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. Earlier this year, he said DEI was "another word for racism."

Musk's own company Tesla has faced backlash regarding the treatment of its Black employees over the years. In 2022, 15 Black employees sued the electric-vehicle maker alleging racial harassment.

The plaintiffs said they were subjected to racial slurs, racist graffiti, and physical violence.

The Lemon-Musk interview, which also touched on subjects such as Musk's ketamine use and his leadership of X, contained some tense moments between the two men. At one point, in response to questions from Lemon, Musk said, "You are upsetting me because the way you're phrasing questions, I think, is not cogent."

After Lemon was abruptly ousted from his position at CNN last year, Musk reached out about a partnership with X. Lemon said the platform terminated their deal hours after this interview was filmed.