Elon Musk attacks Democrats as ‘party of division and hate’

Elon Musk has described the Democrats as “the party of division and hate” after “phony social justice warriors” ejected Tesla from an ethical investing index. Mr Musk said he previously viewed the Democrats as “the kindness party” and had voted for them.

But he added: “They have become the party of division and hate, so I can no longer support them and will vote Republican.

“Now, watch their dirty tricks campaign against me unfold.”

It came as the S&P 500 slumped by 4pc, its sharpest fall since June 2020, amid fears for the US economy after retailer Target became the latest victim of surging prices.

The retailer trimmed its profit forecasts after warning on rising fuel and freight costs, prompting a 25pc tumble in its share price – the worst session since the Black Monday crash in October 1987. It followed a similar announcement by Walmart earlier this week.

Earlier in the day, the credit agency S&P delisted Tesla from its environmental, social and governance (ESG) 500 index, blaming alleged racism at one of its factories and deaths linked to its Autopilot driver assistance tech. Mr Musk hit back on Twitter by ­saying oil company Exxon was “rated top 10 best in world for environment” in the same list Tesla has been removed from.

Exxon, one of the world’s biggest oil companies, was accused in 2015 of withholding information from investors on the financial risks of climate change and conspiring to manipulate the public debate on greenhouse gases over a period of 40 years. Mr Musk added: “@SPGlobalRatings has lost their integrity”.

Predicting that “political attacks on me will escalate dramatically in coming months”, the billionaire also posted an image saying ESG scores show “how compliant your business is with the Leftist agenda”.

He added: “ESG is a scam. It has been weaponised by phony social justice warriors.”