Led by Donkeys – an anti-Brexit campaign group – is now targeting Elon Musk after projecting a video of him making what appears to be a far-right salute on the Tesla factory in Berlin
Elon Musk’s inauguration salute projected on Tesla factory in Berlin
A Left-wing UK group projected a video of Elon Musk’s “Heil Hitler” salute on to the facade of the Berlin Tesla factory.
Led by Donkeys, which was originally set up to campaign against Brexit, appears to have turned its sights on exposing the Tesla billionaire, who sparked uproar during a speech celebrating Donald Trump’s inauguration last week.
Musk, 53, made the gesture twice, slapping his chest and extending out his arm, during a speech at Washington DC’s Capital One Arena after telling Trump supporters: “Elections come and go, some are important and some are not, but this one really mattered and I just want to say thank you for making it happen.”
The British group teamed up with Germany’s Centre for Political Beauty as they accused the SpaceX CEO of using his multi-billion dollar wealth to “degrade democracy” and support European far-right policies and sentiment.
They drew attention to several times Musk had supported far-right figures and parties, including Germany’s controversial AfD party – which has been accused of trivialising the holocaust and using its own form of propaganda that utilises Nazi imagery and sentiment. The video also shows the tweets Musk has made in support of EDL thug Tommy Robinson.
Musk denied that the gesture was a white power salute, saying that his enemies were suggesting it was as a political move. In a response on Twitter, he wrote: “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.” Though he did share a video of the speech on his account, he replaced the controversial moment with a crowd shot.
Last week, Musk hosted an online interview with Alice Weidel, the leader of AfD, Germany’s far-right party. During the exchange, Weidel made the repeatedly debunked the claim that Hitler wasn’t far-right, but a communist or socialist – to which Musk agreed.
“The biggest success after that terrible era in our history was to label Adolf Hitler as right[-wing] and conservative, he was exactly the opposite,” Weidel said. “He wasn’t a conservative, he wasn’t a libertarian, he was a communist, socialist guy, and we are the opposite.” Musk replied: “Right.” Musk has often praised AfD, saying it is the only party that “can save Germany.”
