Elon Musk compared Britons to “hobbits” in a Lord of the Rings-themed analogy on immigration. The world’s richest person claimed the “pleasant” lives of people living in the UK are being interrupted by the arrival of migrants.
Mr Musk, who is the boss of both X and Tesla, has become increasingly vocal on UK politics. He sparked controversy in September after, via video link, addressing a major rally in London organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson. Mr Musk called for a “dissolution of parliament” and criticised “uncontrolled migration”, before going on to say: “Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die.”
“In fact, JR Tolkien based the hobbits on people he knew in small town England.
“They’re lovely people who liked to, you know, smoke their pipe.
“And have nice meals. And everything is pleasant. The hobbits in the shire.”
He added: “The reason they’ve been able to enjoy the shires is because hard men have protected them from the dangers of the world. But since they have no exposure to the dangers of the world, they don’t realise they are there.
“And so one day, 1,000 people show up in your village of 500 and start raping the kids.
“This has now happened, God knows how many times in Britain.”
These claims are unfounded.
Last week, Mr Musk also used the hobbit analogy in a post on X in which he said: “It is time for the English to ally with the hard men, like Tommy Robinson, and fight for their survival or they shall surely all die.”
In a separate post, he claimed “civil war in Britain is inevitable. Just a question of when”.
The US Department of Homeland Security has also used Lord of the Rings references.
It posted a meme of Hobbit Merry, portrayed in the trilogy by Dominic Monaghan, saying: “There won’t be a Shire, Pippin.”
The quote is in reference to the hobbits’ home, the Shire, coming under threat from enemy forces.
Homeland Security responded to the post with a link to vacancies at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which has duties including deportations.
The website says: “America has been invaded by criminals and predators. We need YOU to get them out.”