RUBEN NAVARRETTE JR.: Though an immigrant himself, Musk gets the issue wrong

There is at least one thing rich white males are not good at doing: deferring.

The next time one of these princes of privilege is asked for his opinion on a topic beyond his scope of expertise, I would love to hear him acknowledge his limitations. He could say: “I’m sorry. I don’t have the life experience necessary to comment. I would defer to others who know more.”

Elon Musk is not a typical immigrant. As a white male born in South Africa in 1971, Musk entered the world at a time and in a place where — because of apartheid — having white skin was a significant leg up.

Having started life with such a big head start, Musk should tread lightly when discussing sensitive issues such as race or immigration.

Not a chance. In fact, Musk has criticized efforts by corporations and colleges to promote diversity, equity and inclusion. In January, while addressing a European Jewish Association conference in Poland, he challenged the idea that those on the margins are more virtuous.

“We need to stop the principle that the normally weaker party is always right,” Musk said. “This is simply not true. If you are oppressed or the weaker party, it doesn’t mean you’re right.”

Since buying the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, in 2022, the tech business executive — who has an estimated net worth of more than $190 billion — has used the site to vent on various topics. The problem is that a lot of what Musk says doesn’t make sense, except perhaps to those on the radical fringe.

He continued during a problematic interview recently with former CNN host Don Lemon. Topics included “the great replacement theory,” a myth popular with white supremacists that claims white people are systematically being replaced by nonwhite people in the United States.

In November, Musk endorsed a slanderous post on X that accused Jews of promoting “hatred against whites” and bringing “hordes of minorities” into Western nations. In response, Musk wrote: “You have said the actual truth.”

Likewise, immigration has become a favorite chew toy for Musk. Last fall, the city slicker donned a cowboy hat and livestreamed videos to X from the U.S.-Mexico border, where he declared: “The scale of illegal immigration across the U.S. southern border is staggering.”

In March, Musk returned to X to accuse the Biden administration of leaving America vulnerable to a terrorist attack “far worse than 9/11” by allowing “unvetted illegal immigrants” into the country.

During his conversation with Lemon, Musk said he didn’t “subscribe” to the great replacement theory. Yet he trotted out another anti-immigrant conspiracy theory.

Echoing a contention often heard on the right, Musk claimed that Democrats are deliberately allowing scores of undocumented immigrants to cross the U.S.-Mexico border to bolster their political power.

“A disproportionate number of illegal immigrants go to blue states, they amplify the effect of a blue state vote,” he said. “My understanding is that there would be that the Democrats would lose approximately 20 seats in the House if illegals were not counted in the census. And that’s also 20 less electoral votes for president. So illegals absolutely do impact who controls the House and who controls the presidency.”

Musk speaks with so much confidence that it’s easy to believe what he says is true. But sadly, much of it is not. This latest theory is full of holes.

First, many of the people who Musk casually describes as “illegal” are actually in the country legally because they’ve been processed by U.S. immigration agents when they claimed asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. That’s not a technicality. That’s U.S. law.

Next, after the 2020 census, the states that gained seats in Congress included Texas, Florida and Montana — all controlled by Republicans. The states that lost seats included California, New York and Illinois — all run by Democrats.

Finally, undocumented immigrants usually have one major criteria in deciding where to settle. They go where the jobs are. So as long as U.S. employers are hiring, illegal immigration will continue to be a burden — and a benefit — to both red and blue states.

Immigration is an explosive topic that must be approached carefully. Musk handles it recklessly. The billionaire seems to believe that he is standing up for free speech. In reality, he’s making a mockery of it.

We all know people who are considered intelligent because they’re successful in their fields but who — when they discuss topics beyond their expertise — sound like fools. Meet another.

Ruben Navarrette’s email address is crimscribe@icloud.com. His podcast, “Ruben in the Center,” is available through every podcast app.