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Comment by archagon | Hacker News Reader

An intelligent person makes deductions based on evidence. Low knows Musk's character from working closely with him; knows he's smart enough to understand how his salute would be perceived; sees his close connections with far-right groups (e.g. AfD) around the world; observes his public reaction (Nazi jokes, ha ha) after the controversy. It's not difficult to put two and two together here.

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> knows he's smart enough to understand how his salute would be perceived

That assumes his salute was a deliberate, calculated act rather than an impulsive gesture in the heat of the moment. Given his visit to Auschwitz, his public statements, his pro-immigration stance, and his numerous Jewish friends and colleagues, there’s far more evidence suggesting he is not a Nazi than the opposite.

Read accounts from the people that were with him on his visit to Auschwitz. It was purely PR. Remember he was kind of forced into because he was being perceived as far right. He didn't just go because he morally thought it was something he should do, he went for PR to rehab his image.

https://apnews.com/article/poland-holocaust-musk-auschwitz-6...

What I haven't seen mentioned (and it's cut out of most videos online) is that he also paraphrased the "14 words" directly after. Sure, different enough to have plausible deniability, but I would bet money on that message hitting home in certain circles who know those words well. Nudge nudge, wink wink, and all that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VfYjPzj1Xw

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteen_Words

Then again, people are not admitting to themselves that it was two full-on Sieg Heils (regardless of the underlying reason for it), so this is less of a smoking gun and I don't even know why I'm writing this post.

Anybody who doesn't intend to give a Nazi salute yet appeared to have done twice at a major event would immediately apologize and repudiate the salute. Musk didn't.

Julie Gray, who was there when he visited Auschwitz, said the following:

> I see people posting that Elon was at Auschwitz this time last year - therefore, his recent "gesture" is not antisemitic. I was there, too. Last year. With Elon. I am embarrassed that I have photos of this on my phone. My love, Gidon Lev, was the "special guest" of this photo-op event. We thought, at the time, that it would be good publicity. But I would not share the photo today. I chatted with Elon Musk. I spent hours with him and walked with him through Auschwitz. I stood with him, looking at the nauseating heaps of hair, luggage, and shoes flooded with violet light meant to preserve it. Is Musk an antisemite? People, actually, it's worse - he doesn't care whatsoever. Elon, father of "little X" as he described his freezing cold son to me, literally does not care. He was unmoved by the experience. For Gidon, to be in the place where his father, Ernst, died on a death march - whether shot by the side of the road or having simply collapsed - was a huge deal. Elon did not care. He was about his press junket and his bodyguards. I was ten feet from him as he posed for the cameras of his entourage. He was utterly detached. He cared about how he looked. When he placed a wreath at Auschwitz and Gidon was overlooked, he walked away with the cameras whirring. This is Elon Musk. A sociopath, if ever there was one. To deduce, from this visit, that he is a friend of the Jews is desperately naive.

More from her here: https://juliegraysays.substack.com/p/elon-musk

https://sethabramson.substack.com/p/the-truth-about-musk-fro...

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