Photo of Elon Musk, Jared Kushner at World Cup Draws Criticism, Speculation

Elon Musk caused a stir on Twitter once again after attending the World Cup final between France and Argentina in Qatar on Sunday with Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Pictures of the two flooded the social media site, with many people calling into question the pair's relationship.

Trump's former attorney, Michael Cohen, retweeted the photo that was shared by Representative Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat, that had the caption: "They say a picture is worth a thousand words..."

Cohen then quote tweeted, "More like 2 billion!"

Cohen seemed to be referencing Kushner, who was a senior adviser in the Trump administration, reportedly receiving a $2 billion investment from the Public Investment Fund led by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after he left the White House last year. The House Oversight Committee said in June that it would investigate this deal.

The money was invested in Kushner's newly established private equity firm Affinity Partners, according to The New York Times. In exchange for the investments, the Saudi fund would get a stake of at least 28 percent of Kushner's firm, according to the Times. The relationship between the crown prince and Kushner started in 2016, when they first met.

Meanwhile on Twitter, YouTube personality Philip DeFranco also called out the two and tweeted: "Famed free speech warrior and centrist Elon Musk, hanging out with Jared Kushner at the World Cup as Twitter announces a HUGE social media crackdown. It is now against the rules to link out to your FB, Instagram, Truth Social, and even giving people your Linktree."

Jordan Zakarin, reporter and producer for More Perfect Union, a progressive nonprofit media organization, also shared his thoughts on Musk and Kushner and tweeted: "Elon Musk and Jared Kushner at the World Cup with the Saudis. Nobody doxx him, Elon deserves his private time with his family."

Actor and producer Dash Dobrofsky, pointed out the multiple "coincidences" in the photo saying, "Elon Musk was at the World Cup with Jared Kushner—the son-in-law of Donald Trump who received a $2 Billion investment from a Saudi Arabian fund led by Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman. Twitter's second largest shareholder is a Saudi Arabian Prince. A lot of coincidences here."

Political action committee MeidasTouch also shared the photo on Twitter and said, "Breaking: Lavern Spicer appears to have just violated Twitter's Terms of Service by posting Elon Musk and Jared Kushner's real-time assassination coordinates."

Political analyst Craig Agranoff told Newsweek on Sunday, "It is not necessarily 'bad' for Elon Musk to spend time with Jared Kushner. It is ultimately up to Elon Musk to decide how he wants to spend his time and who he wants to spend it with."

Agranoff continued: "It is not appropriate for us to make a value judgment about their personal interactions. Kushner is a former senior advisor to President Donald Trump. It is possible that some people may disagree with his political views or actions and therefore might view Elon Musk spending time with him as inappropriate."

Musk and Kushner at World Cup
Jared Kushner and Elon Musk look on during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Final match between Argentina and France at Lusail Stadium on Sunday in Qatar. Pictures of the two flooded Twitter after the...

The social media firestorm comes after a recent wave of criticism Musk faced for suspending journalists on Twitter after he said they shared his real-time location information. The Twitter CEO has previously voiced concern over ElonJet creator, Jack Sweeney, for sharing his private jet location online.

According to the Associated Press, Musk threatened legal action against Sweeney and "organizations who supported harm to my family." It is unclear what legal action Musk could take against Sweeney for "an account that automatically posted public flight information," the AP reported.

Among the accounts suspended were The Washington Post's technology reporter Drew Harwell, CNN's Donie O'Sullivan, The New York Times' Ryan Mac, Mashable writer Matt Binder and Micah Lee of The Intercept.

After the suspensions, Musk took to Twitter on Saturday to conduct another poll, asking his followers if those accounts who "doxxed" his location in "real-time" should be reinstated.

The poll had over 3.5 million votes with 58.7 percent saying the journalist's accounts should be reinstated now opposed to the 41.3 percent who voted that the accounts should be reinstated in seven days.

Newsweek has reached out to Kushner for comment.

Uncommon Knowledge

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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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Anna Commander is a Newsweek Editor and writer based in Florida. Her focus is reporting on crime, weather and breaking ... Read more

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