Elon Musk says he's wading into politics to stop the 'woke mind virus' from destroying civilization

• Elon Musk says he's wading into politics to stop the "woke mind virus" from destroying civilization.
• He replied to a question on Twitter about why he was focusing on politics and not on going to Mars.

Elon Musk said on Twitter on Thursday that he is becoming politically active to stop "the woke mind virus" from preventing humankind from reaching Mars.

Musk made the remarks while responding to a Twitter user's questions on an earlier tweet by the billionaire. On Wednesday, Musk posted on the platform claiming that "political attacks" on him would "escalate dramatically in coming months."

"Just curious...what is your motivation to become politically active? Why make yourself a target?" the Twitter user asked. "You are trying to get mankind to Mars and alert the public to the danger of AI. Why sabotage these worthwhile goals by wading into political controversy? Is it worth it?"

In response, Musk wrote: "Unless it is stopped, the woke mind virus will destroy civilization and humanity will never reached Mars."

Over the last month, Musk has mentioned the "woke mind virus" on several occasions. On Wednesday, he called Yale the "epicenter of the woke mind virus attempting to destroy civilization."

And in April, Musk used the term in a tweet, stating that it is "making Netflix unwatchable."

While Musk hasn't outlined what he thinks constitutes the "woke mind virus," the word "woke" has been co-opted and weaponized by right-wing figures to mock progressive causes.

Musk also bashed the Democratic party in a tweet on Wednesday, calling it "the party of division and hate." In the same tweet, he doubled down on his resolution to vote Republican this election — several days after he first stated that stance during a tech conference.

Musk's comments on Thursday came in the wake of a bombshell Insider article detailing how his aerospace firm, SpaceX, paid a flight attendant $250,000 to settle a sexual misconduct claim against the billionaire.