Elon Musk has stated that he has no mercy for people who use the death of children for gain or fame, as he reinforced his commitment to maintaining conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' Twitter ban.
The new CEO of Twitter took to the social media platform to justify his decision to keep Jones off the app, despite reactivating the accounts of previously banned Donald Trump and Jordan Peterson.
In his defense, 51-year-old Musk stated that Jones - who rose to fame after claiming that the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, which killed 20 children, was a hoax - gained from the deaths of innocent children.
The comment came after Twitter user, author Sam Harris, tweeted: "Is it time to let Alex Jones back on Twitter, Elon Musk? If not, why not?"
"Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven," Musk replied, quoting Matthew 19:14 - a Bible passage that references the fact that children are valued members of society who need to be protected.
Another Twitter user chimed in, adding: "Alex f***ed up with Sandy Hook. He admitted that and apologized. He also got a lot of 'conspiracy theories' right. If serial liars like Biden and Trump are allowed on Twitter then Alex Jones should be allowed too. Please reconsider in the interest of real free speech."
Evidently, this hit a nerve with Musk, who simply commented: "My firstborn child died in my arms. I felt his last heartbeat. I have no mercy for anyone who would use the deaths of children for gain, politics or fame."
The South African-born billionaire was referring to his son, Nevada, who he shared with ex-wife, Justine. Nevada tragically died in 2002 at just 10 weeks old from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
After her separation from Musk, Justine penned an essay for Marie Claire about her marriage and subsequent divorce, discussing the details of Nevada's tragic death.
"Nevada went down for a nap, placed on his back as always, and stopped breathing. By the time paramedics resuscitated him, he had been deprived of oxygen for so long that he was brain-dead. He spent three days on life support in a hospital in Orange County before we made the decision to take him off it. I held him in my arms when he died," Justine wrote in the essay.
The couple eventually went on to have five more children together, before their messy split in 2008. Since then, Musk has fathered two children with Canadian musician Grimes, as well as twins with Shivon Zilis, a director of one of Musk's companies, The Daily Mail detailed.
As of October 27, Musk is the current CEO of Twitter, after acquiring the company in a $44 billion takeover that began in April of this year, as previously reported. During the past month in his new role, the Tesla CEO has fired roughly 50% of the company's workforce, including both the communications and human rights teams.