The inauguration of a new president is always a big event. There are speeches from everyone you can think of, especially from the new president’s biggest supporters.
So what happens when one of the supporters of the new president throws out what looks like a fascist salute at what is supposed to be a democratic transfer of power?
Elon Musk appeared to give a fascist salute twice at the U.S. Presidential Inauguration on Jan. 20. Musk isn’t exactly a stranger to controversy, but this is a new level. And while Musk and his fans continue to deny what the motion was, it doesn’t seem very convincing.
There are two options here: either it was intentional or unintentional.
I believe that if this was intentional, that is truly abhorrent. Performing a salute that is reminiscent of genocidal dictators like Adolf Hitler should not be acceptable in a civilized society.
However, if it was unintentional, I would argue that Musk’s behavior afterward makes it just as bad.
Musk has been on his social media platform X almost constantly, making jokes that aren’t even close to appropriate for the situation.
“Don’t say Hess to Nazi accusations!” Musk posted on X Jan. 23.
Even if this was unintentional, continuing to make jokes about accusations of this nature makes it seem like he doesn’t understand the severity of what he did. And if this is true, then should someone who just doesn’t seem to understand the implications of such a gesture really be at the beck and call of the president of the United States?
If this was simply an innocent gesture, should Musk be apologizing and clarifying his intentions rather than making jokes? And if it wasn’t, doubling down and joking about these accusations only makes his behavior more abhorrent.
At a time when antisemitism is rising and we’ve ushered in Donald Trump as the newest president of the United States, I can’t help but remember 2016, when Muslims like myself were targeted in a way similar to this by Trump and sources close to him. And it leaves me to wonder. If Trump’s second term starts with this, then just where might we end up?
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