While giving a celebratory speech in Washington D.C.’s Capitol One Arena following the second inauguration of President Donald Trump, Elon Musk made a one-armed gesture that sparked debate worldwide.
Musk placed his right hand over his chest and extended the same arm straight ahead. He then turned and repeated the gesture to those seated behind him. Many online compared the motion to a Nazi salute and Reddit users are calling for the prohibition of X links on the site as a result.
Reddit users called for a sitewide ban of X posts after Elon Musk’s concerning gesture.
Musk acquired Xformally known as Twitter, in 2022. In response to the billionaire’s apparent use of the Nazi salute on January 20, one Reddit user suggested a “Reddit-wide ban of X links” in a post that currently has 51,000 upvotes and nearly 6,000 comments.
Commenters were divided in their reaction to the proposal. Some were against a ban, claiming it would only worsen online censorship.
“Why feed the censorship trolling even more,” one user wrote. “When does it end? When we’re all partitioned in our little echo chamber platforms and not talking to one another?”
“Against it,” another commenter wrote. “Let people decide for themselves if they want to follow links there. Let people think for themselves.”
Still, others supported the ban.
“The less time and attention you give to Nazis, the better,” one Redditor stated frankly.
“You mean should we not reward a Nazi with visiting the site he owns and generating him ad revenue? No, we shouldn’t,” another person wrote.
Clearly, Reddit users have a long way to go to reach a consensus on the issue, but the fact that it’s gaining so much attention on the website is telling.
Outside of Reddit, Musk’s gesture is highly debated.
The Associated Press reported that Musk said “My heart goes out to you” before making the gesture. As such, some have claimed that he innocently placed his hand over his heart and extended it outward as a gesture of love.
According to MSNBCothers have contended that the admittedly awkward movement was a result of Musk’s Asperger’s syndrome.
Musk has been defended by some surprising sources. The American Defamation League said in a post on X that Musk “made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute” and suggested “all sides should give one another a bit of grace.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also took Musk’s side and wrote in a post of his own that Musk was “being falsely smeared” and is “a great friend of Israel.”
Others have demanded an explanation for Musk’s gesture.
Efraim Zuroff, the former head of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Jerusalem office, told the Associated Press that he considered the gesture to be a Nazi salute. “It’s totally improper, and it raises all sorts of questions regarding his motivations or his ignorance.”
Brian Levin, the founder of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernadino, told the Associated Press, “When you’re a public figure at highest echelons of power on Inauguration Day, doing a salute like that is extraordinarily disturbing and it calls for an explanation from Musk.”
As for any explanation, Musk laughed off the incident on X with distasteful Nazi-related jokes. But, as Levin pointed out, the American people deserve an explanation.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
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