 "'Dangerous point for the free world': Elon Musk's apparent Nazi salute sparks concerns among Germans")
Elon Musk’s apparent Nazi salute has invoked strong reactions from people in Germany with some branding it as an outreach of support to the country’s far-right groups that have lately earned his appreciation.
On the day of US President Donald Trump’s inauguration earlier this week, the Tesla CEO got up on the stage and made a gesture that perplexed viewers from across the world as it look dangerously close to how Nazis used to salute.
Upon thanking the crowd for returning Trump to the White House, Musk tapped the left side of his chest with his right hand and then extended his arm with his palm open, repeating the gesture to the crowd seated behind him.
Claire Aubin, a historian who specializes in Nazism within the United States, said Musk’s gesture was a “sieg heil,” or Nazi salute.
‘Dangerous point for the free world’
A prominent German-French publicist and former deputy chair of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Michel Friedman said that Musk’s action was a “disgrace” and that he had shown that a “dangerous point for the entire free world” has now emerged.
“I thought to myself, the breaking of taboos is reaching a point that is dangerous for the entire free world. The brutalisation, the dehumanisation, Auschwitz, all of that is Hitler. A mass murderer, a warmonger, a person for whom people were nothing more than numbers – fair game, not worth mentioning,” Friedman told the German daily Tagesspiegel.
Charlotte Knobloch, president of the Jewish community in Munich and Upper Bavaria, called the gesture “deeply troubling.” However, she noted that it pales in comparison to Musk’s recent involvement in German politics, including his public support for the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party ahead of next month’s federal election.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsShe said, “Far more worrying are Elon Musk’s political positions, his offensive interference in the German parliamentary election campaign and his support for a party whose anti-democratic aims should be under no illusions.”
‘Need better dirty tricks’
As his ‘Nazi salute’ went viral on his own microblogging site X, Musk said that his opponents needed “better dirty tricks.”
“The ’everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired,” he added.
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