Oh, media.
They are so desperate to smear Elon Musk as a Nazi for his (admittedly awkward) hand gesture at the Inauguration Day rally. It's been five days and -- like a hungry dog with a bone -- they're just not letting this story go.
What they don't realize is most people don't care, because trust in media is at an all-time low and people are clearly over the 'Republicans are Nazis!' rhetoric. As evidenced by the fact media called Donald Trump Hitler for the better part of a decade and he still won reelection.
Axios, never failing to cover themselves in glory, can't seem to understand why Musk and his company, Tesla, aren't being harmed by their baseless accusations.
Musk and Tesla remain bulletproof following Nazi salute accusations https://t.co/YmFjhDlbEj
— Axios (@axios) January 23, 2025
Elon Musk, the world's richest man, standing behind a podium bearing the Seal of the President of the United States, on Monday twice gave what scholars, journalists and rights groups said was a Hitlergruß, or Nazi salute.
- It doesn't seem to have done him (or his company Tesla) any visible harm.
Why it matters: Musk shrugged off accusations of Nazi symbolism as 'dirty tricks,' laughingly thanking the Anti Defamation League after they said it was merely 'an awkward gesture.'
- His reaction only served to further inflame much of the glee with which the sign was received within the far right.
Context: Musk has been making inroads into the far right for some time, endorsing the hard-right AfD in Germany, failing to stop the posting or amplification of pro-Nazi content on his social media site X, and responding to an antisemitic post on X as 'the actual truth.'
It's adorable they put 'context' in this story.
Macron, too? pic.twitter.com/Oi18Hrfeem
— Tandy (@dantypo) January 24, 2025
Cancel him. Macron's a Nazi too.
Waiting for more of your hard-hitting journalism. pic.twitter.com/YzmKwksC7b
— Bruce F. Webster (@bfwebster) January 24, 2025
As hard-hitting as a feather pillow.
Journalism annoyed public refuses to buy transparent smear, harming only the slanderer
— Razor (@hale_razor) January 23, 2025
Nailed it.
"Remain bulletproof"
— Theo Jordan (@Theo_TJ_Jordan) January 23, 2025
That sure is an interesting choice of phrasing coming off a year with back-to-back assassination attempts.
You don't hate our media nearly enough. They truly are the enemy of our people.
An excellent point, especially following the high-profile shooting of Unitedhealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
You didn't say anything when these people were doing the same. pic.twitter.com/SoLwNjvt3F
— Feisty Renegade 🗣🙀🙏⚓ (@MsRobotoFL) January 23, 2025
That's (D)ifferent.
In case you wondered if the media had learned anything from Trump‘s first term, the answer is NO https://t.co/NgvP5TMJSJ
— Joel Dorman (@DormanJoel) January 24, 2025
A resounding NO.
That’s because it was bulls**t. Hope this helps. https://t.co/z1aoUNMHP8
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) January 23, 2025
Correct. Total bulls**t.
The more interesting story would be “how much additional damage was done to American trust in the news media by so many outlets embracing this desperate and ridiculous take?” https://t.co/qSp0fcAx0Y
— George MF Washington (@GMFWashington) January 23, 2025
Trust in media is at all-time lows. How much further can they sink before hitting negative numbers?
We suspect we'll find out during Trump's term.
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