Summary
Elon Musk faced backlash after making a gesture at a Trump inauguration event resembling a Nazi salute, sparking condemnation in Germany.
Critics, including Jewish leaders and Chancellor Olaf Scholz, called the act provocative and linked it to Musk’s support for Germany’s far-right AfD party.
Musk dismissed the accusations, calling them baseless.
Legal experts noted the gesture could be prosecuted under German law if malicious intent is proven.
Critics stressed its troubling context given the far-right audience and Musk’s political affiliations.
My Grandma is from Germany and old enough to remember the real thing. I asked her what she thought and her response was that it was, without any doubt, a Nazi salute. I’ll stick to this primary source over any neo-fashist calling the accusation “baseless”.
It’s also a well-worn fascist tactic: completely bald-faced lying in the face of undeniable truth. It’s just double speak on a toddlers level. But it’s frustrating as fuck because it works—and it works because we have a media ecosystem in this country that thrives on a bias toward “fairness” over a bias toward telling the truth as we can all plainly see it.
“Say all house republicans came to the floor tomorrow saying they believe the earth is flat. The Times would lead with “democrats and republicans can’t agree on shape of earth.”
Joseph Goebbels on the big lie: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it"
You must reject the evidence of your eyes.
I’m mad enough that a person that is essentially a member of the cabinet is doing something so disgusting so blatantly. I’m even more mad at all the people that insist I am not seeing what I’m so clearly seeing. They’re the reason this shit will continue to spiral.