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Being kind, doing kind things, looking out for others, and letting them know how much they mean to you can be shown in a lot of ways. Giving someone a hug, telling them you care for them, and spending time with them are all ways to demonstrate your respect and recognition. But, as of last month, Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk had a different way of showing appreciation towards his people. During a rally after President Trump’s inauguration, Elon had a few words and a questionable hand gesture to share on stage. “My heart goes out to you,” Elon said as he put his hand on his heart and shot it out across his chest, eerily similar to a certain salute utilized by the Nazis. The crowd erupted during Elon’s salute with cheers and claps, to the surprise of many. Now, Elon is not a stranger to controversy. He has been accused of improperly selling Tesla stock ahead of a weak business report that crashed the stock’s price, according to CNNBusiness.com; supporting an antisemitic theory that focused on the idea of non-white and Jewish groups playing a part in a white genocide, per BBC.com; ignoring complaints of a Black employee being targeted with the use of the N-word and swastikas and later having to pay 137 million dollars in fines, per The New York Times; and finally, lying about the amount of money that his recent position in the Department of Government Efficience (DOGE) has saved for the American people, per abcnews.com.
Ultimately, this list serves as a brief overview of the things he has done so far, but how much longer can the media and government appease and enable him? Briefly after the salute, a chain of Tiktok users recreated his salute in protest; their argument was the salute was not a fascist or Nazi salute, but a Roman salute that did not have the same connotation of violence and horror. This argument is dangerous as it enables further behaviors of groups like white-supremacists or neo-Nazis. Elon’s actions were not condemned on a grand scale but instead supported by a slew of people: Steve Bannon (per theindependant.com), priest Calvin Robinson (per theguardian.com), and Nick Fuentes (per youtube.com/rightwingwatch). Bannon, former White House chief strategist, performed the salute at the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) while chanting, “fight, fight, fight,” for which he received applause. Calvin Robinson, a priest appointed by the Anglo-Catholic Church of Michigan, was at a Pro-Life summit in Washington and said, “My heart goes out to you,” while repeating the same salute. And Nick Fuentes, an avid neo-Nazi and Holocaust denier, celebrated Elon doing the salute as a major win for the neo-Nazis of America.
Sadly, Elon’s Nazi-adjacent outreach does not end there. Before the German parliamentary elections, Elon virtually joined an AfD (Alternative for Germany) rally where he said, “Frankly too much of a focus on past guilt and we need to move beyond that” (per npr.com). The AfD is an alt-right political party that has voiced xenophobic, Islamophobic, and antisemitic opinions. Because of Elon’s presence in a meeting right before crucial elections and expression of support for the AfD, he allows the party to be continuously given a platform to garner more support and ultimately gain control and influence over Germany.
His influence, mass amounts of followers, and the things he supports are disturbingly similar to harmful and violent historical events in the past. When are we going to draw the line at Elon’s actions? Are we all going to avert our eyes while he continues to grow in power every day?
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