Tesla slides after an eventful weekend for Elon Musk (TSLA)

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July 16, 2018 9:31 PM

In a now-deleted Twitter thread, the billionaire appeared to insult a diver who assisted in the Thai cave rescue earlier this month. He also faced criticisms for newly unearthed donations to a Republican political group.

Musk called a British diver from the Thai cave rescue a "
Unsworth, the diver, had originally told CNN that Musk can "
Musk also drew criticism for newly disclosed donations to a Republican political action committee.

It was an eventful weekend for Tesla CEO Elon Musk — and the action rolled in to Monday when markets opened, with Tesla shares falling more than 3% in trading.

In a now-deleted Twitter rant, Musk called a British diver who helped in the Thai cave rescue a "pedo guy." The insult appeared to be in response to criticism from Vernon Unsworth, who told CNN that the billionaire can "stick his submarine where it hurts."

Asked by whether he was considering taking legal action, Unsworth quickly replied: "Yes, it's not finished."

"I believe he's called me a pedophile," he said. "Well, by definition, you're rescuing 12 young boys, by definition that puts everybody in the same context ...

Musk also faced criticism over the weekend due to his newly disclosed political donations, which totaled $38,900, to a political action committee called "Protect the House," a group dedicated to maintaining conservative control of the US House of Representatives. Musk also donates to Democratic causes.

Sunday's tweets came just two days after a in which Musk said he was trying to stop attacking people on Twitter.

A spokesperson for Tesla declined to comment when Business Insider inquired about the political donations.

Tesla shares are down 3.7% this year.

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