Elon Musk's Nazi Salute: How he manipulates the public by using the media.

Video of the Nazi salute.

I've never envisioned talking about politics on here. This website was always conceptualized as somewhat un-serious and focused on matters of fiction. But, desperate times...

I am a Sociologist with a particular interest in media. To some, perhaps this gives me a little authority on the subject. Either way, I want to chat about Elon Musk's Nazi salute and his tweets as a response to it. Yes, I am calling them tweets. Fuck X.

Elon Musk, despite his best efforts, is not a complete moron. He kinda-sorta had a role in PayPal (which he wanted to be called 'X.com,' by the way) and made his car company and space company a thing. But his experience in being a business person is not my concern. I am merely suggesting that he has a brain and knows how to use it to his advantage.

What I am more concerned with is his support for far-right initiatives. We know that he aligns himself with far-right thinking:

As the Nazi regime is the most famous example of far-right public indoctrination, it is fair to suggest that he has studied the regime and it's rise, or at least more broadly, is aware of how fascism rises in the political sphere. During the rise of Nazism in Germany, Adolf Hitler publicly denounced Germany with the promise that he would repair it, not unlike Donald Trump's 'Make America Great Again' campaign that Elon Musk has publicly aligned himself with.

Echoes of the Nazi Regime:

Adolf Hitler was highly critical of academics and intellectuals, framing them as out of touch with Germany, often in his political speeches. This allowed him to control the narrative from his end while encouraging anyone who will listen toward a predisposition of ignoring critical discourse that was well-studied. This eroded public confidence in institutions dedicated to critiquing Germany of the time.

Elon Musk similarly denounces academia:

Hitler also popularized the term "Lügenpresse" ("lying-press"). This term was used to frame the media as incorrect in their critiques and encouraged Germans to distrust such. Through constant repetition, Hitler convinced many Germans that the media was part of a conspiracy against the best interest of Germany. This would allow narratives in his interest to foster while dismantling media power to dictate public push back.

Elon Musk takes a similar approach:

By denouncing public sources of knowledge (and owning a massive platform in which people go to for news), he gains control over public narratives while systematically diminishing trust in outside platforms.

So what does this have to do with his recent Nazi salute?

His salute might be a way of publicly testing out his far-right belief system, or just some sick enjoyment (he does tout himself as a 'troll'). We don't know exactly why he did it, but we can analyze the aftermath and make suggestions.

He did not apologize. Here are his tweets on the matter:

He maintains deniability without accountability, regret, or any semblance of wrongdoing. Instead, he uses the accusations as an opportunity to continue his attack on the media:

Let me be clear, these instances are not the same as what he did. If you need a reminder, watch the clip, please! One was done with intent, the others feature no extension from the chest or emphatic, obvious action. Still, he uses photos of people waving or emphatically moving their hands while giving a speech to create an anti-media narrative. This is the same "us-against-them" mentality that Adolf Hitler espoused to gain public backing and power.

If that's not enough to understand the viral moment as an opportunistic way of denouncing the media, Elon Musk reposted the following photo:

In the photo of Taylor Swift, Swift is blowing a kiss to the audience. The photo is even flipped to make it look like she was using her right hand, as two users on Reddit shared:

Finally, Musk used the Nazi salute to invalidate other public sources of knowledge:

Ironically, not only does he call for "valid sources," of which stem from academic works, he alludes to his agenda. If you read the text shared, it is completely objective despite his insistence that it isn't. It describes the action and shares how he denied it.

The part he may be most upset about was that it describes how it drew comparisons to a Nazi salute, but it did do that. You don't need a study to prove it, nor is it propaganda. Publicly and privately, left or right, many people said: "Wait, that kind of looks like..."

The salute is merely an opportunity. Some are insistent in what he meant, some call him a troll, and some say it was a complete accident. But regardless of that, look at this response. His response, at best, shows an ignorant prick who thinks being accused of Nazism is funny. A person like that should not be rubbing elbows with the president.

At worst, it echoes the way that Adolf Hitler created media distrust and replaced it with his own agenda in a systematic process. His actions, both before and after the salute, are similar and can have an impact over time. I do not know entirely if he wants to bring fascism to America, or how purposeful he is in doing so. But what I do know is that regardless of your view on the situation or politics, I urge the public to think about where they get information from, to never rely on one exclusive source, and to be weary of his place in politics.