Humza Yousaf has hit back at Elon Musk after he appeared to describe Scotland’s First Minister as a “blatant racist” on social media.

Musk, who took over Twitter last year before rebranding it as X, responded to an account which posted a speech Mr Yousaf made in the Scottish Parliament after the murder of George Floyd in the US.

In response to the post by an account named “End Wokeness”, Musk wrote: “What a blatant racist!”

Politics latest: Pressure mounts on Starmer as another top Labour figure calls for Gaza ceasefire

As of Friday morning, the post had been seen by more than 500,000 accounts.

In the speech in 2020, Mr Yousaf recited the final words of Mr Floyd before his death while he was restrained by police officer Derek Chauvin.

Mr Yousaf, who was justice secretary at the time, went on to highlight that the people he dealt with on a daily basis in his portfolio were all white.

Reciting the names of the heads of the legal profession, the courts and the police in Scotland at the time, Mr Yousaf punctuated them with the word “white”, before moving on to the medical profession, trade unions and directors general of the Scottish government.

He concluded by saying: “That is not good enough.”

A spokesperson for the first minister said he had been on the “receiving end of racist hate, abuse and death threats his entire life” as he called on Musk to do more to protect users on the platform.

Mr Yousaf also uploaded a Gif of Still Game character Navid dancing on X this morning, alongside the comment: “Racists foaming at the mouth at my very existence.”

“Sadly, much of the racist abuse and threats of violence the first minister faces are directed his way on X – formerly known as Twitter,” the spokesperson said.

“Mr Musk should use his position to tackle racism and hatred that goes unchecked on the social media platform he owns.”