Musk said his transgender daughter was suffering from a ‘tragic mental illness caused by the evil woke mind virus’

Elon Musk is in a battle with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office over the Tesla CEO’s transgender daughter, who goes by Vivian Jenna Wilson.

The spat started when Musk’s America PAC reposted a clip of Newsom on “The Ezra Klein Show” in which he says, “There’s no governor that’s done more pro-trans legislation than I have.” The governor made the comment while discussing his stance on transgender athletes competing in women’s sports, an issue where Newsom has broken away from other prominent Democrats.

While interviewing Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk in the inaugural episode of his podcast, “This is Gavin Newsom,” the California governor made waves by saying it was “deeply unfair” to have transgender athletes in women’s sports.

Newsom’s press office responded to America PAC’s commentary on the clip from “The Ezra Klein Show” by taking a jab at Musk.

Elon Musk got into a spat with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office over the Tesla CEO’s transgender child. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; David Swanson/Reuters)

“Correct. We’re sorry your daughter hates you, Elon,” the governor’s press office wrote on X, a platform that Musk owns.

The SpaceX CEO came back with a blistering response, doubling down on his refusal to call Wilson his daughter.

“I assume you’re referring to my son, Xavier, who has a tragic mental illness caused by the evil woke mind virus you push on vulnerable children. I love Xavier very much and hope he recovers,” Musk wrote. “My daughters are Azure, Exa (she goes by Y) and Arcadia, and they do indeed love me very much.”

Elon Musk attends the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center June 16, 2023, in Paris. (Chesnot/Getty Images)

MUSK SAYS TRANS CHILD WAS FIGURATIVELY ‘KILLED BY THE WOKE MIND VIRUS,’ VOWS TO DESTROY IT: ‘MY SON IS DEAD’

The X owner then pinned a post on his profile in which he wrote, “If you have a womb, you are a woman. Otherwise, you are not.”

Musk opened up about his thoughts on minors receiving gender surgery during a 2024 interview with Dr. Jordan Peterson. The Tesla CEO said he was “essentially tricked” into giving consent for Wilson to go on puberty blockers.

“It happened to one of my older boys, where I was essentially tricked into signing documents for one of my older boys, Xavier. This is before I had any understanding of what was going on. COVID was going on, so there was a lot of confusion, and I was told Xavier might commit suicide if he doesn’t,” Musk told Peterson.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Inc., during a news conference with President Donald Trump, not pictured, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C.,May 30, 2025 (Francis Chung/Politico/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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He went on to talk about the concept of “deadnaming,” or calling a transgender person by their birth name.

“I lost my son, essentially. They call it deadnaming for a reason,” Musk said. “The reason it’s called ‘deadnaming’ is because your son is dead. So, my son Xavier is dead, killed by the woke mind virus.”

Musk added that, after what happened, he “vowed to destroy the woke mind virus.”

Fox News’ Yael Halon contributed to this report.