In contemporary U.S. politics, it is common to hear, “he/she should not be in office!” from both sides of the political spectrum. I get it; I do not want to believe the country is operating under another Trump administration and nothing would make me happier than to refer to our executive branch leader as “Madame President.”
However, some individuals really should not be involved in politics and should limit themselves to barely speaking on them, with Elon Musk being a shining candidate for this position. With no political background, being ensnared in myopic tendencies and having a terrible personality, Musk has crept into the American government on the back of Donald Trump, who himself is a horrible – albeit funny – human. Enabling Musk to “talk on politics” itself is far too generous a courtesy, considering past comments and actions that continue to highlight how out of touch he is with today’s tolerant social engine.
Musk’s controversies center around “racism toward Whites” and anti-Semitism, with some of his viral doings including Tweets (I am not referring to the app as “X”) stating, “I am deeply offended by the [Anti-Defamation League]’s messaging and any other group who push de facto anti-white racism or anti-Asian racism or racism of any kind,” “Everyone is allowed to be proud of their race, except for white people, because we’ve been brainwashed into believing that our history was somehow ‘worse’ than other races,” and performing a televised Nazi salute on Jan. 20, in light of Trump’s inauguration.
Musk not only has a history of committing prejudiced actions, but consistently finds ways to manipulate, or “bend,” said actions’ truths. On a Feb. 28 episode of Joe Rogan’s podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience,” Musk addressed his fascist salute by stating, “What is bad about Nazis, it wasn’t their fashion or their mannerisms, it was the war and genocide [that is] the bad part, not the mannerisms and their dress code.”
This is not only a shortsighted take by Musk but also a dangerous one. By separating Nazi mannerisms and “fashion” from the evils of the Third Reich, it enables the normalization of the Nazi salute as nothing more than a friendly wave between two Nazi comrades. Of course, any normal and educated person can recognize that the Nazi salute was a direct submission to Adolf Hitler and his murderous political party. In addition, the salute was usually accompanied by a “Heil Hitler!,” “Heil mein Führer!,” or “Sieg Heil!” chant.
With Germany and Austria outright criminalizing the Nazi salute (possible repercussions include a minimum of fines and a worst-case scenario of a 6-month prison sentence) shortly after World War II, it is a genuine mystery as to how Americans in the current day not only continue to support Musk in his political doghouse but have not revolted against him.
Musk’s invasion of the nation’s government perpetuates a concerning trend of “randoms” entering the political scene: we permitted Donald Trump, a man with no previous political experience before his presidential campaigns but multiple failed businesses, to hold office twice and now we are giving Musk the same greenlight!
While Musk may be the richest man on Earth and the leader of several successful companies, he should be isolated to only his companies and prohibited from growing within the political landscape of the United States, especially when accounting for his overtly biased views.
Financial literacy does not necessarily translate to effectively spearheading legislation or holding a political position, which some fragments of the American population have somehow misconstrued. Unfortunately, as long as Donald Trump and other far-right Republicans (shuddering at the mere thought of JD Vance) have the political power that gives Musk the freedom to intrude in governmental happenings, Musk will continue to do so.
Lastly, having politicians validate Musk’s actions is bad enough; having American citizens do so is just a tragic reality that should not be tolerated. And I do not mean we should pursue some form of retaliatory action against this demographic of individuals. Rather, we should normalize the judgment of those who support a ratty, bigoted, politician-wannabe instead of making it a “wrong” and “subjective” perspective.
Image from PBS NewsHour under fair use
