Elon Musk has a one-word response to Zohran Mamdani appointee Catherine Almonte Da Costa's old antisemitic social media posts

Catherine Almonte Da Costa was recently appointed by Zohran Mamdani to lead his administration's recruitment strategy. However, some of Costa's old antisemitic social media posts popped up on social media, prompting her to resign just a day after her appointment. Meanwhile, Elon Musk shared a one-word response to the situation where Catherine's old posts surfaced.

"Troubling," wrote the Tesla CEO.

Elon reacted particularly to a post that had a screenshot from an article seemingly by The Judge Street Journal. The highlighted part of the article suggested that Catherine Almonte Da Costa would spread white hate. Meanwhile, more than 3 million people viewed the post by Elon Musk and shared their reactions.

A lot of netizens sided with the billionaire and criticized Catherine for the alleged comments. In the highlighted portion of the article, Catherine seemingly wrote,

"It's important that white people feel defeated."

She also shared her reaction after Donald Trump became the president for the first time. In November 2016, she allegedly reacted to Trump's win and wrote that "it's not the first time this country has let me down." Another highlighted portion included her statement, apparently from January 2020, when she wrote,

"For so long power has been in the hands of men and/or white people. It has brought us ruin." 

Catherine Almonte Da Costa stated that she had apologized to Zohran Mamdani for her past comments

As aforementioned, just a day after Zohran Mamdani appointed Catherine Almonte Da Costa, she found herself in the middle of a controversy and eventually resigned. Reacting to the anti-Semitic comments that she made in the past, Catherine said,

"I spoke with the mayor-elect this afternoon, apologized, and expressed my deep regret for my past statements. These statements are not indicative of who I am."

She then added,

"As the mother of Jewish children, I feel a profound sense of sadness and remorse at the harm these words have caused. As this has become a distraction from the work at hand, I have offered my resignation."

The social media posts were first reported by The Judge Street Journal. The posts that Catherine Almonte Da Costa made at the time have since been removed. Several screenshots were also published in the newsletter exposing the anti-Semitic posts that dated back several years. The Judge Street Journal cited a now-deleted tweet by Catherine made in January 2011, in which she called Jews "money hungry."

Then in July 2012, Catherine wrote,

"I always think its (sic) strange that orthodox Jewish women can't expose their hair so they wear wigs. I guess that it beats wearing a head scar."

A lot of other offensive and anti-Semitic posts by Catherine surfaced around the time that Zohran Mamdani appointed her. Meanwhile, the Anti-Defamation League's New York and New Jersey chapter reacted to the sensitive situation and tweeted, saying that the old posts "echo classic antisemitic tropes and otherwise demean Jewish people."

The group even urged an explanation for the posts not just from Catherine, but from mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani as well. Meanwhile, in a statement, Mamdani said that "Catherine expressed her deep remorse over her past" and added that he had accepted her resignation.