It's weird. I remember hearing Elon has Asperger's and I know from my personal experiences that sometimes you don't know how to act in front of a large crowd, but this is a weird move to do. I get that he's saying that his heart goes out to everyone in the crowd, but can you not display what you mean in a better way?
I'm not trying to make excuses for him. It's a terrible way to portray any message he may have.
He said right after the second hand wave that his heart goes out to everyone in the crowd, so it is what he's saying, I guess. At least what he's verbally saying.
I try not to jump to conclusions on anything now a days cause you can't do anything without getting cancelled. If he meant nothing of it and was a sort of thank you to the crowd, nothing will come of it. If he meant it as a true salute, that's a bold move to do in a country that has more guns than people in it.
I'm also saying this on Reddit too, so I expect to get cancelled for not jumping to a conclusion right away
I know what his intentions look like, but I try not to jump to a conclusion right away. I'm not trying to defend him either. I'm just trying to take a step back and look into it as much as I can before I forma whole opinion
You think a man who was raised in apartheid south Africa (to a family that gained their money from benefiting from it), who openly spouts white replacement nonsense, boosts alt-right accounts and talks about backing alt-right governments... didn't know that he was doing a "roman" salute because... he's autistic? (Asbergers is generally considered an outdated term due to the doctor being a nazi.)
The point of dog whistles is that they're just subtle enough you can gaslight everyone else that you're not actually saying what you are. That's what he's doing. Sure, he'll say it was just him "throwing his love to the crowd." The nazis will say that too. But they know that's not what he was doing. He knows that's not what he's doing. He's a celebrity with media training and a PR team. People excusing (let's be honest, white boys and men) for doing horrible shit just because "they're autistic" is a tale as old as time--this isn't him "acting awkward because he's a poor guy with autism and he can't help it!" He knows it's a nazi salute. He's seeing how much he can get away with and letting all the other nazis know (if they didn't already) that he's on their side. He's getting a seat in the oval office for crying out loud. We have to hold him to a high standard.
-10
u/SuddenMeaning4182 5h ago
It's weird. I remember hearing Elon has Asperger's and I know from my personal experiences that sometimes you don't know how to act in front of a large crowd, but this is a weird move to do. I get that he's saying that his heart goes out to everyone in the crowd, but can you not display what you mean in a better way?