Yes, Musk said 'The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy.' Here's context

<div> <div> <span>Claim:</span> <p> Elon Musk, the billionaire adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, said: “The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy.” </p> </div> <div> <span>Rating:</span> <a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/rating/correct-attribution"&gt; </a><div><a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/rating/correct-attribution"&gt; <img alt="Correct Attribution" src="https://mediaproxy.snopes.com/width/200/https://media.snopes.com/2018/0…; </a></div><a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/rating/correct-attribution"&gt; </a><div><a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/rating/correct-attribution"&gt; Correct Attribution </a></div><a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/rating/correct-attribution"&gt; </a> </div> <div> </div> <p><span>In March 2025, social media users shared a </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/matthewcookeofficial/posts/the-fundamental-wea…; about the dangers of empathy, attributing the remark to Elon Musk, the billionaire adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump.</span></p>
<p><span>As quoted, Musk's alleged words in full read: "The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy."</span></p>
<blockquote><a href="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebo…;
<p><span>Snopes readers wrote in and searched our website for information about the comment. Examples of the claim appeared </span><a href="https://x.com/lionel_trolling/status/1897451587179528642"><span>on X</span></a><span> (</span><a href="https://archive.ph/8xkQw"><span>archived</span></a><span&gt;), </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/jivanaheyman/p/DG4WftTvqIY/?img_index=1"><spa…; (</span><a href="https://archive.ph/91cJc"><span>archived</span></a><span&gt;) and </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/matthewcookeofficial/posts/the-fundamental-wea…; (</span><a href="https://archive.ph/yz6EL"><span>archived</span></a><span&gt;). Reputable news media outlets, including </span><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/05/politics/elon-musk-rogan-interview-empat…;, and self-described "progressive news site" </span><a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/3/5/2308276/-Musk-believes-empath… Kos</span></a><span> also reported that Musk </span>expressed<span> the sentiment.</span></p>
<p><span>In short, the quote's attribution to </span><a href="https://www.snopes.com/tag/elon-musk/"><span>Musk</span></a><span&gt; was correct. The billionaire said the words during a Feb. 28, 2025, episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast.</span></p>
<p><span>During his appearance, Musk also spoke of "suicidal empathy." He credited the concept to </span><a href="https://www.concordia.ca/faculty/gad-saad.html"><span>Gad Saad</span></a><span>, a Canadian marketing professor who has frequently </span><a href="https://x.com/GadSaad/status/1896695088895672666"><span>posted</span></…; (</span><a href="https://archive.ph/cE2FM"><span>archived</span></a><span&gt;) about </span><a href="https://x.com/GadSaad/status/1897685927096721834"><span>suicidal empathy</span></a><span> (</span><a href="https://archive.ph/SYmxy"><span>archived</span></a><span&gt;) on his social media accounts and has </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/doctorgadsaad/p/C-qwF2SuDnO/?hl=en"><span>sai…; (</span><a href="https://archive.ph/dvrLP"><span>archived</span></a><span&gt;) he is writing a </span><a href="https://x.com/GadSaad/status/1877428360814498014"><span>book</span></a>…; (</span><a href="https://archive.ph/dtGiJ"><span>archived</span></a><span&gt;) on the topic.</span></p>
<p><span>The relevant section of Musk and host Joe Rogan's discussion of empathy can be heard from around the 1:16:00 mark in the </span><a href="https://youtu.be/sSOxPJD-VNo?si=QE4cIibQ1mr4-vfS&amp;t=4560"><span>vide…; embedded below.</span></p>
<blockquote><a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sSOxPJD-VNo?si=FiZQw0C8KqU9JQbB&amp;start…;
<p><span>Musk said the quote in question within the context of a longer exchange on the subject, which is transcribed below (we've bolded the quote for emphasis).</span></p>
<blockquote><p><span>Musk: There's a guy who posts on X who's great, Gad Saad?</span></p>
<p><span>Rogan: Yeah, he's a friend of mine. He's been on the podcast a bunch of times. </span></p>
<p><span>Musk: Yeah, he's awesome, and he talks about, you know, basically suicidal </span>empathy.<span> Like, there's so much empathy that you actually suicide yourself. So, we've got civilizational suicidal empathy going on. And it's like, I believe in empathy, like, I think you should care about other people, but you need to have empathy for, for civilization as a whole, and not commit to a civilizational suicide. </span></p>
<p><span>Rogan: Also don't let someone use your empathy against you so they can completely control your state and then do an insanely bad job of managing it and never get removed.</span></p>
<p><span>Musk: <strong>The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy</strong>. The empathy exploit. They're exploiting a bug in Western civilization, which is the empathy response. So, I think, you know, empathy is good, but you need to think it through and not just be programmed like a robot. </span></p>
<p><span>Rogan: Right, understand when empathy has been actually used as a tool.</span></p>
<p><span>Musk: Yes, like, it's weaponized empathy is the issue.</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span>Musk has posted </span><a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1883763757689761830"><span>numerous</span…; (</span><a href="https://archive.ph/MIJ1f"><span>archived</span></a><span&gt;) comments </span><a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1891311172139299067"><span>on X</span></a><span> (</span><a href="https://archive.ph/y4Ypi"><span>archived</span></a><span&gt;) — the social media platform he owns — about Saad's concept of suicidal empathy, including </span><a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1895491688984182890"><span>one</span></a>…; remark (</span><a href="https://archive.ph/3GvwJ"><span>archived</span></a><span&gt;) on Feb. 28 — the same day Rogan released the podcast episode quoted above.</span></p>
<p><span>Previously, Snopes </span><a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/musk-parasite-class/"><span>looked into</span></a><span> whether the tech mogul authentically reposted a meme on X that called those who benefit from U.S. federal programs the "Parasite Class."</span></p> <div> <div> <p>"Elon Musk Believes Empathy Is the 'Fundamental Weakness' of Western Civilization." Daily Kos, https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/3/5/2308276/-Musk-believes-empath…. Accessed 10 Mar. 2025.</p><p>PerryCook, Taija. "Yes, Musk Reposted Meme Calling Americans Who Use Federal Programs the 'Parasite Class.'" Snopes, 21 Feb. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/musk-parasite-class/.</p><p>Wolf, Zachary B. "Elon Musk Wants to Save Western Civilization from Empathy | CNN Politics." CNN, 5 Mar. 2025, https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/05/politics/elon-musk-rogan-interview-empat…; </div> </div></div>