It's Been 24 Hours and We've Already Got Our First Assignment

Was it a Nazi salute or an awkward gesture?

Okay, critical readers. It’s time to add critical viewing to your list of skills.

Take a look at this video of Elon Musk:

It’s pretty easy to assume what it looks like:

However, the Antidefamation League (ADL) quickly issued a statement that Musk’s movements were not a Nazi salute, also known as a sieg heil:

“This is a delicate moment. It’s a new day and yet so many are on edge. Our politics are inflamed, and social media only adds to the anxiety. It seems that @elonmusk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge. In this moment, all sides should give one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt, and take a breath. This is a new beginning. Let’s hope for healing and work toward unity in the months and years ahead.”

But…

According to Rolling Stone, some far-right-wing extremists took it as a sign of solidarity:

So which is it? Is Musk a quirky guy making awkward gestures or an evil genius with sympathies toward fascism and antisemitism?

Musk has been in hot water before for appearing to side with antisemitic thought. He later gave an explanation that only added to people’s concerns. According to the BBC, “Mr. Musk denies he is antisemitic and later said his comments referred not to all Jewish people but to groups like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and other unspecified ‘Jewish communities.’”

Okay then.

Lessons Learned

Musk seems to have gotten a clearer message of the deathly results of antisemitism’s past after visiting Auschwitz last year. "I'm a student of history, so I had seen the pictures, I'd seen the videos, but [...] it hits you much more in the heart when you see it in person,” he said after a tour of the death camp. Later, he also said that DEI hiring initiatives were “fundamentally antisemitic.”

At the same time, Musk seemed to be unaware that hatred towards Jews still existed. As he told Ben Shapiro of Daily News Wire, "In the circles that I move, I see almost no antisemitism. And, you know, there's this old joke, 'I've got like this one Jewish friend.' No, I have like two-thirds of my friends [who] are Jewish. I have twice as many Jewish friends as non-Jewish friends. I'm like Jewish by association, I'm aspirationally Jewish."

One wonders what his Jewish friends had to say about his hand gestures yesterday.

Can We Blame Childhood Trauma?

Musk has long been portrayed as a kooky genius. According to the authorized biography of Musk written by Walter Isaacson, young Musk was “a scrawny kid on the autism spectrum,” friendless and often bullied. His father thought of him as a loser. Musk decided to channel the negative energy from his childhood and concentrate on doing big things.

Even as he found success, the backwards kid from South Africa seemed to lurk beneath his skin. His biographer notes that Musk is a mastermind at engineering, but a failure in understanding human emotions. Isaacson also says that Musk is “almost always trying to recreate the drama, the turmoil of his childhood in apartheid South Africa, seeing people killed, and having a psychologically abusive father.”

So is that what that salute was all about? Creating drama for no particular reason?

Think for Yourself

Okay, here’s your homework:

• Stay away from extreme left- or right-biased news sources because they are likely to make a pronouncement based on emotion rather than facts.

• Do look for news outlets that give context to Musk and this particular event. Ground News is an excellent resource because it provides both (and sometimes more) sides of a story.

• Watch videos of Musk’s speech and research Musk in general to draw your own conclusions.

• Engage in civil discourse. Gain perspective from others and combine it with your own good judgment to formulate your thoughts.

And then let us know: Was it a Nazi salute or an awkward gesture?