(Reuters) – Elon Musk compared Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau to Adolf Hitler. His tweet, which appeared to support truckers protesting the vaccine mandates, sparked a Twitter storm (NYSE:).

Musk had sent this tweet just before midnight on Wednesday in California. He deleted the message by noon on Thursday without any explanation. A request for comment was received by Musk.

Musk, Tesla’s Chief Executive Officer (NASDAQ) Inc, tweeted in February support for Canadian truckers. They have closed roads and bridges across Canada, drawing attention from the international media about their protest against Trudeau’s Health Policy.

Musk replied to a tweet about Trudeau’s government ordering banks to reduce funding for the protesters. Musk uploaded a meme that featured a photo Hitler and had “Stop comparing Justin Trudeau to Justin Trudeau” written over his head. “I had budget” below.

Musk and Tesla sent the tweet just as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was accused of conducting an “endless” investigation into Musk for criticizing the U.S. government.

Musk is one of the most popular Twitter users with 74 million followers. This is often seen by Tesla as a marketing win.

Musk’s edgy humor is well-known, as are his blunt assessments. However, Trudeau’s comparison to Hitler, the Nazi leader responsible for starting World War Two and the killing of millions of Jews, was too extreme for many Twitter users.

“@elonmusk making disgusting comparisons of Trudeau with Hitler. Don’t do this kind of stuff. “You just make you look stupid,” tweeted @ElliotMalin. The notice, “This tweet was deleted by the author” was posted at midday Thursday.

Musk’s tweet was responded by the American Jewish Committee, who demanded an apology immediately.

Francois Champagne, Canadian Minister of Industry, addressed Musk through Twitter. He said his remarks were “quite frankly disturbing”.

His tweet received more than 35,000 views, over 9,000 retweets, and positive reactions, with one even from @maroongolf17 stating that “my next car must be a #tesla right now”.