The Anti Defamation League (ADL) has slammed Elon Musk after he made a series of Nazi ‘jokes’ on social media.
Just days after defending the billionaire’s controversial gesture at Donald Trump‘s inauguration celebrations, the organisation have condemned his latest comments as ‘inappropriate and offensive’.
The Tesla boss, 53, poured fuel on the already raging fire yesterday (23 January) when he took to X to make several puns.
This week, he has used the social media platform which he took over in 2022 to address claims that he made a ‘Nazi salute’ during his speech on Monday.
Musk then shared a post slamming Wikipedia for how his actions were described on the online encyclopaedia.
Now, he has dug himself an even bigger hole by taking to the platform – formerly known as Twitter – to make a number of ill-advised jokes.
In a post, which has been viewed nearly 40 million times, he used the names of various senior Nazi figures to make light of the backlash he has received for his hand gesture.
Musk wrote: “Don’t say Hess to Nazi accusations! Some people will Goebbels anything down!
“Stop Gőring your enemies! His pronouns would’ve been He/Himmler! Bet you did nazi that coming,” he said, while adding a laughing emoji.
The ADL previously defended Musk amid claims he performed a ‘Nazi’ salute on Monday (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
Musk appeared to mock claims that his movements on Monday were Adolf Hitler-esque by referencing the names of his Deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess and the dictator’s trusted advisor and propagandist, Joseph Goebbels.
He also played on the monikers of Reichstag President Hermann Göring and SS Commander Heinrich Himmler in his post.
In wake of the initial backlash about his hand gesture, the ADL defended Musk’s motions and suggested he had simply made an ‘awkward gesture’ in a post on X.
Despite it being widely condemned as a fascist salute, the New York-based organisation said: “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.”
Don’t say Hess to Nazi accusations! Some people will Goebbels anything down! Stop Gőring your enemies! His pronouns would’ve been He/Himmler! Bet you did nazi that coming
But amid Musk’s latest online outburst, the ADL now appears to have drastically changed it’s tune.
Entrepreneur Jonathan Greenblatt, who heads up the organisation which ‘fights all forms of antisemitism and bias’, laid into the Space X founder in another X post.
On Thursday, he wrote: “We’ve said it hundreds of times before and we will say it again: the Holocaust was a singularly evil event, and it is inappropriate and offensive to make light of it…@elonmusk, the Holocaust is not a joke.”
The ADL then quoted Greenblatt’s original tweet and added: “Making inappropriate and highly offensive jokes that trivialise the Holocaust only serve to minimise the evil and inhumanity of Nazi crimes, denigrate the suffering of both victims and survivors and insult the memory of the six million Jews murdered in the Shoah.”
Musk’s ex-girlfriend Grimes has spoken out about his hand gesture, as well as one of his 12 children.
LADbible have contacted the ADL and Musk’s representatives for comment.
Featured Image Credit: ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images
Topics: Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Politics, Twitter, US News
Olivia Burke
Body language expert reveals ‘hidden meaning’ behind Barron Trump’s bizarre hand gesture at inauguration
He basically did the Mr Burns thing with his hands
A body language expert has explained a variety of hand gestures and what they mean, including one done by Barron Trump at his father’s inauguration.
While he was a young child when Donald Trump first became president back in 2017, he is significantly more grown up now as people have rather noticed.
Barron, now 18, is sort of the American equivalent of Gary Barlow’s massive son, at 6’7, he tends to tower over pretty much everyone else around him.
There were a lot of eyes on him at the inauguration events, not least because his father called him out in front of everyone to say Barron had been suggesting podcasts to go on such as The Joe Rogan Experience, which Donald Trump claimed helped him connect with young voters.
The younger Trump also went up to his father’s successor and predecessor as president, Joe Biden, to shake hands with him and his VP Kamala Harris who was defeated in the recent election.
Lip reader Jeremy Freeman said that Barron Trump had said ‘g’day to you sir’ to Biden and ‘ma’am, good day’ to Harris, and that Biden had said ‘it’s good to see you man‘.
You can probably tell what this hand gesture means (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, at one point, Barron Trump was seated and put his hands together in a manner similar to Mr Burns from The Simpsons, a gesture which is known as the ‘politician’s steeple’.
According to body language expert Darren Stanton, when people do the ‘politician’s steeple’, it’s supposed to convey an ‘authoritative position’.
Stanton told The Sun that the hand gesture is not meant to convey that someone thinks they’re better than you, but that they feel in a position of authority at that particular moment.
The body language expert said this ‘display of authority’ could also mean ‘evaluation’ in some environments, and if you see someone doing the politician’s steeple while tapping their fingers together, that can show they’re giving what’s being said a bit of a think.
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According to the expert, this is an ‘authoritative position’ (X)
Stanton said tapping meant that the person doing it is ‘considering what’s being said’ and ‘thinking whether there is any merit to it’.
Elsewhere in the inauguration, Elon Musk twice performed a rather distinctive hand gesture with a significant amount of historical meaning.
Musk thumped his chest before extending his right arm up into the air fully extended as he stood before an audience, the South African businessman then turned around and repeated the gesture to a US flag.
Featured Image Credit: X
Topics: US News, Donald Trump, Politics
Joe Harker
Twitter Announces $44 Billion Agreement With Elon Musk
The Tesla boss has taken full control of the social media giant
Twitter has entered into a ‘definitive agreement’ to be bought by Elon Musk for $44 billion (£33.3bn).
The Tesla boss recently announced his intention to take full control of the social media giant, and it would seem that his planned purchase is now in its final stages.
Earlier this year, Musk became the largest shareholder in Twitter after taking a 9.2 percent stake in the company.
However, just this month, the 50-year-old went a step further and bid $54.20 per share to take full control.
In the statement announcing the agreement, Musk said: “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.
Alamy
“I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”
Bret Taylor, Twitter’s Independent Board Chair, said: “The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon’s proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing.
“The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter’s stockholders.”
Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said: “Twitter has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world. Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important.”
♥️ Yesss!!! ♥️
When Musk shared his ambition of buying Twitter, many thought it to be another grandiose claims made by Musk that would come to nothing.
Despite him being the richest man on the planet, much of his wealth is tied up in stocks, so plenty of experts were quick to question how he was actually going to pay for the site.
However, Musk last week released a financing plan, which included the backing of Morgan Stanley and other lenders, offering $13bn (£10.2bn) in debt financing as well as a further $12.5bn (£9.8bn) in loans against his stock in Tesla.
Musk himself also put up $21bn (£16.49bn) through equity financing.
Since he declared his interest, the SpaceX boss has already proposed a couple of major changes.
Earlier this month, he suggested transforming Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco into a homeless shelter.
Alamy
He also recently told TED founder Chris Anderson what he hopes to achieve with his takeover.
Anderson asked: “So Elon, a few hours ago you made an offer to buy Twitter, why?”
To which Musk replied: “I think it’s very important that there will be an inclusive arena for free speech.”
“Twitter has become kind of the de facto town square. It’s really important that people have the reality and the perception that they’re able to speak freely, within the bounds of the law.”
He then went on, explaining how he would like to see greater transparency within the site.
“One of the things I think Twitter should do is open source the algorithm and make any changes to people’s tweets, if they’re emphasised or de-emphasised, that should be made apparent, so you can see that that action has been taken.
So, you know, there’s no behind-the-scenes manipulation either algorithmically or manually.”
Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Topics: Elon Musk, Twitter, Technology, US News
Dominic Smithers
People Think Elon Musk Got Refused Entry To Nightclub Following Angry Tweets
Twitter users think that Elon Musk got refused entry to the Berghain nightclub in Berlin.
People think Elon Musk was drunk tweeting about not getting into the infamous Berlin nightclub, Berghain.
At 3:51am (GMT), Musk took to Twitter to talk about the exclusive techno club, Berghain.
For those who aren’t aware, Berghain is known as the most ‘exclusive’ and difficult-to-enter nightclubs in the entire world. It’s perhaps one of the most popular and renowned places to listen, dance, and bop to electronic music… well, if you get granted entry, of course.
While it’s not currently clear what happened between the Tesla CEO and the nightclub, some users on Twitter are speculating that he was – like millions of others have been – refused entry.
Musk’s first tweet about the club read: “They wrote PEACE on the wall at Berghain! I refused enter.”
They wrote PEACE on the wall at Berghain! I refused enter.
He followed this up a little later at 7:19am, adding: “Peace. Peace? I hate the word. Those who do care about peace (myself aspirationally included) don’t need to hear it. And those who don’t care about peace? Well …”
People quickly took to Twitter to respond to the tweets, with one user alleging: “Elon Musk got rejected from Berghain and instead tweeted this at like 7am”.
While another chimed in saying: “tell me you didn’t make it into Berghain without telling me you didn’t make it into Berghain.”
tell me you didn’t make it into Berghain without telling me you didn’t make it into Berghain.
While another simply retweeted Musk and commented “Elon Musk apparently drunk tweeting about being refused entry to Berghain is very funny”.
Elon Musk apparently drunk tweeting about being refused entry to Berghain is very funny
They wrote PEACE on the wall at Berghain! I refused enter.
Others simply disagreed with his comments about peace being written on the wall: “This time I disagree with you. Yes, taking action is better then words,” one wrote.
“But words carry energy, and if ‘peace’ on the wall reminds people of something good, it does it’s thing (at a small scale). Hating this word, as you say, does not any good. Even though I understand your view”.
The news comes after Musk announced on 28 March that he had contracted Covid-19 again.
The Space X founder said: “Covid-19 is the virus of Theseus. How many gene changes before it’s not Covid-19 anymore? I supposedly have it again (sigh), but almost no symptoms.”
Covid-19 is the virus of Theseus. How many gene changes before it’s not Covid-19 anymore? I supposedly have it again (sigh), but almost no symptoms.
Musk was said to have had Covid two years prior after he reported minor cold-like symptoms.
At the time, he said in reply to a fan asking about his condition: “A little up & down. Feels just like a regular cold, but more body achy & cloudy head than coughing/sneezing”.
To think I grew up 2b bizniz magnet
Musk’s symptoms appear to be milder this time around and his tweets as informative as ever.
He also recently shared a meme of someone trying to stick magnets of the same pole together, captioning the post: “To think I grew up 2b bizniz magnet”.
Forbes named Musk the Richer person in history last year, as his fortune neared £300 billion.
