Featured Image Credit: ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images
Topics: Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Politics, Twitter, US News
Olivia Burke
Topics: Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Politics, Twitter, US News
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.
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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.
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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.
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"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."
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."
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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.