On BBC Newsnight the panel of journalists and politicians were discussing Elon Musk’s emphatic salute at US President Donald Trump’s triumphal inauguration rally in Washington.
Probably most people have seen Musk’s Dr Strangelove moment by now but none of the panel would say what it most clearly was: a Nazi salute.
Musk did not just involuntarily raise his right arm and point his fingers to heaven. He slammed his right hand into his chest, paused for a long moment, and then thrust his arm outwards as tens of millions watched nationwide, and thousands of Trump supporters in the auditorium cheered.
At this point, many people were no doubt watching stunned and wondering if they had just hallucinated Musk’s gesture, but helpfully, he then turned his back and did the same salute to those in the seats behind him.
And yet somehow Gabriel Gatehouse, a seasoned BBC observer of US politics and the far right, played down the moment, as did the great sword-carrying failed Conservative leadership contender Penny Mordaunt. Gatehouse suggested it could be a “Roman salute” and compared it to a cartoon frog that appeared in the 2016 presidential campaign.
What does Elon giving a Nazi salute have to do with Trump? Last I checked nobody suggested banning links to truth social.
People don’t like Nazis and don’t like Musk.
Maybe other people are different but I would not be happy with Elon Musk and twitter if he gave a Nazi salute at a Kamala inauguration. Pretty sure most people don’t like Kamala and that’s why she didn’t win. Many people who voted for her probably thought she was less bad for America than trump.
I don’t like that the price of eggs keeps going up. At the same time I see the wealth of billionaires like Musk, Zuckerberg, and Bezos grow exponentially. Can’t help but put 2 and 2 together.
I don’t go to church, but I live by the teachings of the bible. Greed is one of the seven deadly sins. Musk has more money than he could spend in a 137,000 American lifetimes and it is still not enough for him.
I see all this online fighting between team red and team blue and can’t help but feel it is by design. Musk, Tik Tok, Google, and Zuckerberg control the algorithms they don’t want people cooperating. It is the best way they can keep the boot population’s neck as they hoard ever more wealth for themselves. At the same time everyone around mes quality of life continues to drop.
Don’t be so surprised that people don’t like Nazis. This isn’t 1940s Germany. At least not yet. Also in the 1940s plenty of people hated Nazis then too. There was even a war and although the Nazis put up a very good fight they were vastly outnumbered.
Also some of the highest grossing and most beloved movie franchises of all time (Star Wars and Indiana Jones) were about fighting and resisting Nazis.
I don’t find it surprising that many people don’t like Nazis but I do find it surprising that other people are.