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Did Elon Musk Appear to Sieg Heil at Trump Inauguration?
- talldayo 2y agoUh oh, Zion Don's going to have a very upset reception at Ben Gurion international...
- r00fus 2y agoYou jest but Zionism and Nazism are two sides of the same coin. Netanhayu/Ben Gvir/Smotrich won't bat an eye at this. You can tell because the ADL basically shrugged it off.
- jprd 2y agoWhatever you hear as an explanation for this, Musk knew how this would be seen/received and made a show of doing it. If I suspend all possible disbelief, the best scenario is a rich white kid raised in Apartheid South Africa giving "Roman Salutes" to troll people for his own personal LOLs?
- firebaze 2y ago[flagged]
- palata 2y ago> If I suspend all possible disbelief I tried, watching the video a few times. I can't believe that he didn't know what he was doing. At best, he wants to demonstrate that he can make one of the worst gestures anyone can do in this position and suffer no consequences. Some kind of demonstration of power.
- sidibe 2y agoHe will do anything so that his biggest fans love him even more. They think this was so based and now he's a god among men for doing this so all is well
- disqard 2y agos/men/edgy twelve-year old boys/g
- ashoeafoot 2y agothe boyz we tell to work the mines, like their fathers before and all be well while the world is going to hell. We do make it pretty easy to sell ideology atm and musk is just selling facism (and hope) faster than the natural growth rate of socialism
- _DeadFred_ 2y agoHe is rich because of Tesla. Stop buying Tesla's. Then his debt collateral is gone and his loans get called in.
- rcMgD2BwE72F 2y agoNot at all. Tesla, all included, is just 39% of his wealth. 175 of his 449 billions USD. Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/profiles/elon-r-musk/ https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/profiles/elon-r-musk/ And he isn't leverage. In the end, he sold Tesla share and bought Twitter with cash, contrary to what most newspaper wrote (and never corrected).
- 2y ago
- timeon 2y agoThat is not "Roman Salute" in first place. "... commonly considered a symbol of fascism that had been based on a custom popularly attributed to ancient Rome.[1] However, no Roman text gives this description, and the Roman works of art that display salutational gestures bear little resemblance to the modern so-called "Roman" salute." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_salute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_salute
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- dudefeliciano 2y agoWhat are you trying to accomplish with this comment, protecting the reputation of the ancient Romans? The article you linked says, in the first line: "The Roman salute, also known as the Fascist salute" While (ancient) Romans may have not done this salute, the salute is commonly referred to as Roman salute nonetheless
- dllthomas 2y agoIt was certainly done in Rome, but 80 years ago isn't ancient.
- dinkumthinkum 2y ago[flagged]
- moogly 2y agoPeople who are socially awkward do not tend to accidentally do a Hitler salute. Twice. With gusto. At the White House. I'm socially awkward. I have managed to not even be close to doing it. I have found it very easy to avoid accidentally performing a Hitler salute. Maybe they do after documented instances of retweeting neonazi posts. And after publicly supporting the closest thing to the successor of the German Nazi party, AfD. And after calling for the release of a self-professed and documented fascist asshole in the UK. I don't know. Few people have that pedigree, after all, be them socially awkward or not. I'm not sure even being high as a kite on ketamine might do it, but I'm not sure. I think my employer would frown upon me being high as a kite on ketamine. If he wanted people not to conclude he leans that direction, it would be pretty easy not to accidentally do these things over and over. Unfortunate. But here we are. Do you think members of the KKK are wearing those robes and funny hats because of social awkwardness too?
- dinkumthinkum 2y ago[flagged]
- IAmGraydon 2y agoTrolling in the most idiotic, childish way possible is exactly what he's doing. He's done this forever. This is the guy who literally publicly trolled the SEC on Twitter when they charged him with fraud in 2018. The same guy who named the car models of his $1 Trillion company to spell "S3XY". He clearly has some kind of unresolved complex originating from his childhood that has stopped him from progressing to the mentality of a normal adult. What he fears most is being ignored. He needs everyone to be talking about him all the time.
- entropyneur 2y agoFrom heart to Mars
- ceejayoz 2y agoThis is, unfortunately, not one of those cases where the full video makes it any better.
- lawn 2y agoNo, it really doesn't... https://youtube.com/watch?v=joV-9FFoA3Q https://youtube.com/watch?v=joV-9FFoA3Q
- Rapzid 2y agoThey way he was biting his lower lip suggests to me he knew EXACTLY what he was doing.
- giardini 2y agoAnd what specifically did Musk "biting his lower lip" suggest to you?
- red-iron-pine 2y agoit means "keep a straight face, cuz here we go"
- Rapzid 2y agoThat he knew exactly what he was doing.
- skytwosea 2y agoCouldn't agree more. His facial expression screams commitment to his impulse.
- firebaze 2y ago[flagged]
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- firebaze 2y ago[flagged]
- johneth 2y agoNo, Elon's doing that all by himself.
- firebaze 2y ago[flagged]
- jprd 2y agoAgreed. If we accept any other explanation for what Elon was doing there, then we also need to accept that he somehow cannot see how this would be seen as a pure fascist signal. We also then need to ignore his public opinions, "true"/"concerning" comments on what remains of Twitter, and his recent / very public donations and commentary on world politics centering on "Nazi-adjacent" communities to accept the former. That's a lot going on for the CEO of (3) companies (last I checked) with gov't contracts and investor/founder of several other adjacent and frequently intertwined related orgs. Oh, and he's apparently one of the best Diablo IV players globally.
- bdangubic 2y agothat would be an insult to Nazis
- thiht 2y agoNot like he’s hiding it very much.
- dingosity 2y agoThis is problematic.
- kzrdude 2y agoI mean, it changes nothing on one hand, but it also crosses another line. From a European perspective (my perspective), this has burned all his credibility in Europe outside of fringe groups, there is no ambiguity.
- _DeadFred_ 2y agoNot fair. His autism made him do it. Don't you know, Autism is like Tourettes but for Nazi salutes instead of ticks/swearing?
- artistic_regard 2y ago[dead]
- computerthings 2y agoYou may jest, but https://x.com/bungarsargon/status/1881439445523775961 https://x.com/bungarsargon/status/1881439445523775961 > As a person with a strong track record of criticizing Elon Musk, I feel extremely confident asserting that this was not a Nazi salute. Elon Musk is a friend to the Jews. This is a man with Aspergers exuberantly throwing his heart to the crowd. We don't need to invent outrage. "Opinion editor of Newsweek", 150k followers.
- _DeadFred_ 2y agoHe braces himself, makes an aggressive facial expression and stiffens his arm (not a thank you loving face), his palm facing down, elbow stiff, fingers locked together (not how one throws their heart), does it a second time, then comments that 'the future of civilization is assured'. Go Google images and look from multiple angles. Of BOTH salutes. Try not to puke at the smiles/cheers in the crowd. Subtle Elon used the Fraktur font on his MAGA hat. Elon supports the AFD. Elon intentionally does a Nazi salute twice. Elon likes/responds possitively to Nazi's and white supremacists on X. Elon talks about 'declining birth rates and immigration policies' as closely as he can get away with to 'race replacement theory'. Somehow we are just misunderstanding him. Nah bro. Stop. At some point we have to stop err'ing on the side of 'he's just an accidental unintentional Nazi'. Guess what, still a Nazi. I'm supposed to give this guy good faith: https://nypost.com/2024/03/06/us-news/elon-musk-wont-donate-to-either-trump-or-biden-in-2024-election/ https://nypost.com/2024/03/06/us-news/elon-musk-wont-donate-...
- wumeow 2y agoAnyone who has payed attention to his Twitter feed will not be surprised by this.
- johneth 2y agoWhy is this flagged? Surely one of the most influential people in the tech space (and the richest man in the world) doing a nazi salute is pertinent to Hacker News?
- verdverm 2y agoMostly like because of the comments likely to (and already) ensue Also people just don't want to hear about it on HN when it is all over the media already
- computerthings 2y agoEverybody has excuses. And you don't actually "hear" people discussing in threads you don't click on. I don't want to hear about Apple, ever, nothing they do or make interests me, or ever will. Yet I wouldn't dream of curtailing others discussing that stuff.
- verdverm 2y agoHN is community moderated and generally aims to keep an amount of decorum. Look at all the comments here. If a story leads to the comments here, it almost always gets flagged to discourage further unproductive commentary
- computerthings 2y ago[flagged]
- verdverm 2y agoIf this is your first HN account, then you've only been around for 5 months. Consider this a data point in understanding HN better. If you can find a contentious story and plenty of debate elsewhere, it almost always gets flagged for multiple reasons by a variety of people
- Jackson__ 2y agoOops, is that our favorite oligarch doing a nazi salute? Sorry we don't do politics here, flagged. ... I usually try to avoid politically charged content here but if you think this wont affect you, you are out of touch.
- DemocracyFTW2 2y ago> if you think this wont affect you, you are out of touch This is a disturbing thing to me when people want to discuss the tech but without the politics (and the rocket launches but not the fallout).
- computerthings 2y agoGather 'round while I sing you of Wernher von Braun A man whose allegiance Is ruled by expedience Call him a Nazi, he won't even frown "Ha, Nazi, Schmazi" says Wernher von Braun Don't say that he's hypocritical Say rather that he's apolitical "Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down? That's not my department" says Wernher von Braun
- dekhn 2y agoI strongly encourage people to read Operation Paperclip which tells the story about how the US smuggled Von Braun and many other german scientists into the US post-war, housed them, and gave them resources to develop ballistic missles. It also documents in detail how the Nazis used Jews and others as slave labor to build V-2. (BTW; Von Braun cared greatly about "where they came down")
- red-iron-pine 2y ago"I always shot for the moon, but sometimes I hit London"
- zfg 2y agoTesla had already suffered global brand damage due to Musk: https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/would-be-tesla-buyers-snub-company-musks-reputation-dips-2024-04-01/ https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/would-... https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2024-08-22/tesla-reputation-falling-as-elon-musk-alienates-ev-buyers/104229840 https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2024-08-22/tesla-reputat... https://nltimes.nl/2025/01/19/tesla-owners-react-elon-musks-controversies-3-10-consider-selling-cars https://nltimes.nl/2025/01/19/tesla-owners-react-elon-musks-... This will not help it.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- JSTrading 2y agoPoor JD Vance. It’s like he’s not vice president
- DemocracyFTW2 2y ago—who?
- ponector 2y agoDJ Once
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- mglikesbikes 2y agoThe case for this not being flagged: this is an intellectually curious forum and the mods have a proven ability to adequately moderate other contentious threads and allow politically-charged posts. If what Pres. Biden said about a growing oligarchy holds true, more posts like this should be expected in the future (especially given the attendees from the tech sector at today’s inauguration), and it’s far better to have a trustworthy place to discuss these types of stories, given HN’s readership, than places like BlueSky or Reddit (read: content optimized for algorithms); the amount of intellect here could lead to positive outcomes. Additionally, given the amount of industrywide impact the actions of CEOs have, and a large percentage of us are founders, it would be more valuable than not to have the discussion. So to the mods: please consider updating the site’s ToS to allow posts and discussions like this. It’s valuable to have these discussions, and quasi-favoritism like allowing pg’s DEI screed while flagging this, shows clear editorial bias.
- tim333 2y agoThere was an interesting youtube "Is Elon Musk Heir To Nazi Dream of World Conquest? w/ Jim Stewartson" the other day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y-erGt0LsU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y-erGt0LsU Not sure how accurate it is but it was an interesting watch.
- morkalork 2y agoSo, when does it become acceptable to discuss this behaviour?
- red-iron-pine 2y agoon HN? never. still wondering why OP's post is still up
- celsoazevedo 2y agoNot once, but twice: https://i.imgur.com/E4POKCK.gif https://i.imgur.com/E4POKCK.gif (mirror: https://files.catbox.moe/icky5m.mp4 https://files.catbox.moe/icky5m.mp4 )
- dfedbeef 2y agoTwice
- wahnfrieden 2y agoThree times actually, one on the walkway
- iJohnDoe 2y agoIt makes me worried when he is making the gesture and saying things like this. This is truly history in the making. “It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured,” Musk said. Similar past use by Hitler. “Only the Aryan can secure the future of civilization through his creative and organizing power.” https://efiretemple.com/analyzing-adolf-hitlers-use-of-the-term-aryan-a-collection-of-quotes-with-context-and-themes/ https://efiretemple.com/analyzing-adolf-hitlers-use-of-the-t...
- Gud 2y agoElon Musk could have been such a great man, if he just had kept off 4chan. What a waste of talent.
- efnx 2y agoYes. 4chan had this unfortunate effect of turning “ironic” use of Nazi memes into full blown embrace of the Nazi movement. I’ve seen the same thing happen in my own life by listening to Vaporwave. Vaporwave’s ironic use of 90s smooth jazz has given way to me seeking out the depths of Kenny G’s discography. I actually love Pat Metheny Group now. Be careful out there. You become the memes you consume.
- IAmGraydon 2y agoThis guy is so fucking weird. Everything about him elicits intense feelings of cringe. It really amazes me that he has the level of success that he does, because he's definitely not all there.
- thrillgore 2y agoHN flagging this says all that needs to be said about what side HN and YC has chosen. I'm leaving.
- amai 2y agoDoes anybody know a good ETF without Tesla stock?
- amai 2y agoMusk to Bannon: I can prove that I'm more rightwing than you are!
- tim333 2y agoThe full speech https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3EM0G0qh0Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3EM0G0qh0Q In fairness to Musk he explains the gesture as 'my heart goes out to you', and the general vibe is not really fascist. Very cheerful about sending people to Mars. For comparison here's Hitler - all anger https://youtu.be/FJ3N_2r6R-o https://youtu.be/FJ3N_2r6R-o That said I'm sure Musk knew what he was doing. He seems to be going a little nuts these days.
- steakscience 2y agoI don't like Elon. But I think it's pretty clear he was awkward (same as the weird jump he did months ago)
- insane_dreamer 2y agoHe’s smart enough to know how people will interpret such a gesture.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- adultSwim 2y agoI'm not into calling everyone a nazi, but he has been promoting AfD...
- railsgirls112 2y agoHow do you not unflag this? This is a historic moment with the whole country watching. Not separate from technology intellectual curiosity or the world. What does it say that this discussion is being suppressed?
- infrawhispers 2y agoIt is amazing what HN mods choose to step in an unflag. Really speaks to the performative ethos around “intellectual curiosity”. Elon making a nazi salute is not interesting but Graham speaking about wokeness is interesting and should be discussed.