Elon Musk: “I’m pro vaccination, but anti vaccination mandate”

Over the weekend, Tesla CEO Elon Musk called GoFundMe ‘professional thieves’ after the fundraising website withheld $10 million from the Canadian anti-vaccine trucker protest. It all started last week when GoFundMe removed a fundraiser for Canada’s “Freedom Convoy” protest against what the fundraising site alleged was a violation of the country’s COVID-19 policies.

Musk’s comment later got the attention of the New York post which later tweeted about it. In response to the Post, Musk responded by saying “I’m pro vaccination, but anti vaccination mandate.”

Musk has been very vocal on social media about his opposition to mandatory vaccination since the pandemic started two years ago. In 2020, Musk even went as far as saying his family won’t take the shot since they weren’t at risk. “I’m not at risk, neither are my kids,” Musk told host Kara Swisher about the rationale behind his decision.

I’m pro vaccination, but anti vaccination mandate

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 6, 2022

Meanwhile, a few hours after Musk’s tweet, GoFundMe announced in a Tweet this morning that it “will be refunding all donations to the Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser. This refund will happen automatically — you do not need to submit a request. Donors can expect to see refunds within 7-10 business days.”

GoFundMe also issued an update saying “The update we issued earlier enabled all donors to get a refund and outlined a plan to distribute remaining funds to verified charities selected by the Freedom Convoy organizers. However, due to donor feedback, we are simplifying the process and automatically refunding donations.”

To simplify the process for our users, we will be refunding all donations to the Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser. This refund will happen automatically—you do not need to submit a request. Donors can expect to see refunds within 7-10 business days.

— GoFundMe (@gofundme) February 5, 2022