I disagree with this characterization of Smith’s argument. HMS may be referring to this essay:
I’ll quote, add bolding and keep italics:
But that’s not why Abramson’s statement is so absurd. The reason it’s absurd is not its content but its purpose — it represents an attempt to diminish the country’s fear of Elon Musk and his role in American politics by calling him stupid. This is a very foolish thing to try to do.
Maybe saying that Elon has a 110 IQ makes you feel like you beat him in your little online fantasy world, but out there in the actual world, he is still ripping up your national institutions at breakneck speed.
People who think that denigrating Elon’s capabilities will somehow defeat him or make him go away are simply fools — not low IQ, but simply unwise people reacting suboptimally to an external challenge. Elon Musk is, in many important ways, the single most capable man in America, and we deny that fact at our peril.
Smith is saying Musk is dangerous and that Musk won’t just go away on his own.