Don’t look at his arm. Look at his mouth. Especially the way he presses his teeth into his lip. It’s the way you look when you’re saying, “fuck you” to someone you hold in contempt. Which is what I believe Elon Musk was doing when he threw out his arm in what his defenders were quick to assure the rest of us was totally not a Nazi salute.

He just got carried away, both the ADL and Benjamin Netanyahu claimed. It was an awkward but heartfelt gesture of gratitude for Trump’s election. Because who doesn’t think of Elon Musk as a heartfelt guy prone to appreciative gestures? The only thing was Musk himself wasn’t all that keen to straighten out these terrible misunderstandings. First, he used his own platform on X to post “The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is soo tired.” Then he followed up with a post that said things like “Some people will Goebbels down anything” and “Bet you did nazi that coming.”

I think it’s safe to say that Mel Brooks isn’t looking over his shoulder, worried that Musk is going to overtake him in the All-Star Comedy Sweepstakes.

In fact, I don’t know if what Musk did was exactly a Nazi salute or if it even matters. I’m pretty sure he knew it would be interpreted that way – he did it twice, deliberately and defiantly - and that was his point. To stir outrage and show nothing would come of it. I believe young people call this “flexing.” Others call it trolling. And it wouldn’t mean thing, if it was a teenage punk doing it at a bus stop or some lonely, twisted hacker posting it on 4chan.

But it’s a little bit different coming from the world’s richest man - and a product of apartheid-era South Africa - when he’s celebrating his role in elevating Donald Trump to a second term in the White House.

Often, in cases like this, the subject complains about being “taken out of context.” So let’s back up a second and give this a little more context. Musk’s defenders like to point out that he’s been a supporter of Israel in the past. Musk calls himself “philosemitic” and insists that he has many Jewish friends (they always say that, don’t they?). But in 2023, when a tweet on X accused “Jewish communities” of “pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them,” Musk responded, “You have said the actual truth.”

With friends like these…

Never mind, that was just more trolling. Perhaps Musk doesn’t quite meet the definition of a classic antisemite, meaning someone who automatically hates Jews simply for being Jews. More likely that he’s the kind of self-serving “libertarian” who admires Israel for its technological capabilities and its right-wing government, but loathes liberal Jews with their traditions of questioning and critical thinking.

But that’s still not quite what gets my goat. Antisemitism is on the rise, but I don’t think most Jews are in immediate danger of getting rounded up in America – at least I hope not. What bothers me is both Trump and Musk use racist tropes and antisemitic associates to excite far-right supporters. And to further agendas that involve promoting disinformation, attacking immigrants for “poisoning the blood” of the country, and declaring they’re in favor of free speech while using all powers at their disposal to silence and punish critics (like John Bolton, who lost the security detail protecting him from Iranian threats because he dared to speak out against the 47^th president).

Look, I’m not a DEI absolutist or in favor of open borders allowing in felons from other countries. I think the progressive regressives overstepped egregiously and created an opening for Trump and Musk. But it’s disturbing that no one seems capable of holding these two vicious, thin-skinned men accountable, especially when they start toying with weapons of bigotry and using them against vulnerable groups. The American electorate and the Supreme Court have given Trump a blank check. And Musk, with no voters to answer to, is using his platforms to influence elections and promote far-right extremists in France, England, Italy, and – yes, you guessed it – Germany.

We’re not quite back at the Nuremberg rallies, yet. But it’s obvious that Trump and Musk have studied the lessons of that period and decided the free world has been going in the wrong direction for the last eight decades.

I’m not saying these guys are Nazis. But they are playing “Springtime for Hitler,” without the laughs.