Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said he was “tricked” into giving consent for his child to go on puberty blockers, adding that he believes “the woke mind virus” figuratively killed his son.

Musk made the comment in an interview with Dr. Jordan Peterson on Monday after he was asked about his thoughts on doctors performing sex change procedures on children, a practice both Musk and Peterson described as “evil.” Musk said that his experience with his child Xavier, who now goes by Vivian Jenna Wilson, opened his eyes to what he called “the woke mind virus,” which he has since vowed to “destroy.”

“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.

“That was a lie right from the outset,” Peterson interjected.

“Incredibly evil, and I agree with you that the people that have been promoting this should go to prison,” Musk responded.

Musk said it wasn’t explained to him that puberty blockers are “actually just sterilization drugs” when he gave his consent for his son to undergo the treatment. He called the term “gender affirming care” a “terrible euphemism.”

“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. My son Xavier is dead, killed by the woke mind virus.”

Puberty blockers have been shown to cause long-term fertility problems in boys, a preprint study from Mayo Clinic concluded earlier this year. The study found that puberty blockers’ impacts may be permanent, disputing claims that such effects can be reversed.

After an extended pause, Musk added, “I vowed to destroy the woke mind virus after that.”

Vivian Musk came out as transgender in June 2022. Around that same time, the then-18-year-old filed a request to change names from Xavier to Vivian and take her mother’s last name, the Daily Mail reported.

“I no longer want to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form,” Vivian said at the time.

Musk’s pledge to take on the “woke” left likely inspired his latest decision to move the California headquarters for SpaceX to Texas, after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law that will bar school districts from notifying parents if their child uses different pronouns or identifies as a gender that's different from what’s on school records.

“This is the final straw,” Musk wrote on X, his social media platform, in explaining his decision. “Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas.” (Fox News: Text, Excluding Headline)

Update news