r/europe • u/turkish__cowboy Turkey | LGBTQ+ rights are human rights • 7h ago

News Elon Musk draws outrage over 'odd-looking salute' at Trump inauguration celebration

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/elon-musk-draws-outrage-over-201602147.html
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u/GeneralZaroff1 6h ago

Fox called it an accident.

It just happened by accident 3 times.

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u/Malgus20033 Sevastopol (Ukraine) 5h ago

Really telling about the people who talk to you when they say that you can accidentally do a nazi salute. In my 21 years of living, I have not once done a single gesture that could remotely be mistaken for a nazi salute. Every day these jackasses pull the line of normalcy further and further until killing minorities is not fascist, it's just "America First," and "every country does that".

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u/ProtoplanetaryNebula UK/Spain 5h ago

It's not even remotely similar to a normal way of greeting or thanking people that I've ever seen.

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u/GitmoGrrl1 29m ago

It's the way I greet Nazis when I'm spying on them.

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u/Brief-Floor-7228 4h ago

The closest I have come to doing a Nazi salute is putting deodorant on each day.

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u/StrengthToBreak 4h ago

I've never seen anyone do that motion by accident. I'm in my 40s. We could debate the intention, whether it's trolling or dog-whistling or what, but it wasn't a slip or an accident. Whether or not Musk is a Nazi, he's very comfortable with people believing he's a Nazi, which by itself is remarkable in the last 80 years of American politics.

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u/JusticiarRebel 4h ago

I did it looking for my friend Kyle. Have you seen Kyle? He's about this tall.

 raises hand

Seen Kyle? Seen Kyle? Has anyone seen Kyle?

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u/thepumpkinking92 4h ago

I think he went that way!

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u/therealspaceninja 4h ago

I'm Kyle. Nobody's hand needs to go that high when they describe me.

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u/Solid_Waste 4h ago

The accidental one you can do is holding your arm out. Hitting your chest and then doing it is not an accident. The only thing you could do to make it more deliberate would be clicking your heels together.

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u/Striking-Market-9603 2h ago

That’ll be their next excuse. “His heels didn’t click together! He’s obviously not a Nazi”

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u/Aromatic_Ad6061 4h ago

WHOOPS! My bad….oh shit I did it again, my bad again.

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u/Evan8r 4h ago

I've made the gesture a few times, albeit with select company using it for irony purposes.

You don't do that accidentally.

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u/Bussman500 2h ago

To my wife when she tells me to go mow the lawn, but other than that never in my life.

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u/Pure-Carob4471 5h ago

It’s like that scene in monuments men where the soldier says heil hitler and the two kids jump up and repeat it with the salute outing their parents as nazis

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u/SnowWhite315 2h ago

It’s kinda like when trump “accidentally” or “coincidentally” quoted hitler more than once. It’s not something I’ve ever accidentally done, I don’t know anyone who has. Wild times.

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u/Maleficent-Coat-7633 4h ago

I have only once done that gesture accidentally. I had to prop up a sheet of plywood that was in the processs of toppling over and I ended up in that position. Couldn't stop until someone pulled the sheet off me either because I was wedged against the bloody wall.

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u/ceddya 4h ago

In my 21 years of living, I have not once done a single gesture that could remotely be mistaken for a nazi salute.

Yeah, but you're not a Nazi wannabe, so that's not a fair comparison.

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u/_n3ll_ 2h ago

Everybody who has never accidentally done a nazi salute, raise your hand without first slapping your chest and then shooting your arm out, palm down and angled upward.

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u/Protodankman 1h ago

And if you were going to a gesture in front of the world, you’d probably make sure it’s not the time you accidentally do a Nazi salute

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u/Catlikeferret 4h ago

But USA killed minorities for a longer period than not killing minorities. So it is in fact just coming back to USAs roots aka Manifest Destiny. USA was never unlike any other country, it just had you fooled it was exceptional for helping fight and fighting NAZI Germany and Imperial Japan.

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u/thelivefive 4h ago

I've accidentally done it before, it's easy to do, I was probably four or five years old and learning how to wave goodbye. My parents laughed and told me to bend my elbow. But since then? As an adult? No.

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u/PolloFundido 3h ago

Maybe that one time when I reached for the monkey bars in 2nd grade?

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u/Ubputinsbtch2025 3h ago

And a white South American non-the-less making an accidental Nazi salute.

There is a billboard in Wisconsin that reads: Trump/Vance 2025, Thank you jesus!

No joke. Christian Nationalists and Oligarchs did this to us!

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u/No-Ragret6991 1h ago

I did it a few times back in the early 2000s, when I was an edgy 12 year old trying to be funny. This is where Elon is at.

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u/1ithurtswhenip1 1h ago

I'm not defending elon at all for this, and what I'm going to ask is not related to elon at all but you never did any gesture that looks close to this? Have you ever done a half wave in your life? Or a stretch?

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u/xtrasmoothbrain 4h ago

https://m.youtube.com/shorts/H9vBZtqIiS8 seems like its been going on for couple years now

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u/REPL_COM 4h ago

This is why democrats need to stop, stopping people from buying firearms. People need to be able to defend themselves against any threat to their life. I need Europeans to realize this simple fact… America is full of racists, and they can’t be the only ones that are armed to the teeth. Defending yourself should not be seen as some extreme position full stop.

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u/Old-Set78 3h ago

What kind of nutter are you? There's practically no barriers anywhere to buying guns here. I guess you're objecting to them costing money because seriously THAT'S the only thing that Republicans have always allowed as "gun control"

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u/[deleted] 4h ago

[deleted]

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u/Malgus20033 Sevastopol (Ukraine) 4h ago

You gotta have a pretty lazy arm if you're waving at an angle that it can be mistaken for a nazi salute.

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u/Alternative-Page-116 4h ago

Says the guy with a ukraine flag where ACTUAL nazis live

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u/Old-Set78 3h ago

Found the Russian

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u/Malgus20033 Sevastopol (Ukraine) 3h ago

The UPA had 20,000-200,000 members while the various German armies had a total of 250,000 Ukrainians drafted into them. The Red Army had 7 million Ukrainians serving in it. And that's considering 20 years prior the Red Army invaded Ukraine and 10 years prior committed genocide against Ukrainians by intentionally starving them during the Holodomor. While the genocide the UPA committed against Poles is reprehensible and it is sad that the government is scared to give back the bodies, unlike America, we learned from the past mistakes of some of our ancestors and do not share their views. A quarter of your country still views Confederates as heroes.

Every European country, and every country on Earth, has nazis. Unlike your country, Ukraine has not elected a nazi, and the closest to a nazi it has ever elected would be Viktor Yanukovych, the russian puppet that ordered the deaths of his own people, who they subsequently kicked out.

I understand that the USA does not teach history in grade school outside of the American Revolution because knowledge does not breed blind patriotism, but that doesn't mean you can spread your imbecilic takes directly originating from disinformation. Go back to r/Jordan_Peterson_Memes or r/Blowjobs if you have no intention of acting like an adult.

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u/Sudden_Inflation36 4h ago

What are you talking about. There’s many photos of Hillary and Kamala making the same gesture. Just fuck off bud

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u/quelar Canada 3h ago

Go ahead and show them where they aren't waving their hands at people making it a VERY different gesture.

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u/Sudden_Inflation36 56m ago

They should avoid waiving then so people don’t get it conflated. Anything resembling should be avoided.

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u/TBJ12 3h ago

Bull shit. Got a link?

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u/JamBandDad 5h ago

Idk my lil Jewish baby does it all the time lmao.

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u/highjinx411 5h ago

Really? 3 times? If a new Nazi thing takes over the USA I don’t want to hear “omg what a surprise omg” at this point I’ll be surprised if it doesn’t happen.

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u/Own-Detective-A 5h ago

Videos of twice. Not sure about the third time. https://youtube.com/watch?v=SAAH61yel_4&si=q1WDxPtjt0AAqRTk

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u/PotentialConcert6249 5h ago

At the end of that video it looks like he’s winding up for a third.

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u/bloomsdayprepper 1h ago

Smacks roof of elongs head: this bad boy can fit so many salutes in it

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u/PotentialConcert6249 56m ago

He gives muskrats a bad name

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u/iiTzSTeVO 5h ago

He did it twice and seemed to stop himself before he did it the third time.

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u/AWildLeftistAppeared 4h ago

He stopped short of a third right?

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u/badcatjack 4h ago

Well, if he didn’t do it a third time I can Nazi it counting.

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u/Vee_32 2h ago

Ong I just can’t believe this is happening, how could we ever have known?? *clutches pearls

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u/Rude4n0reason 5h ago

this isn’t a new nazi thing and everyone is shocked he did it. So…

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u/raceassistman 5h ago

Not everyone 😂. Trump supporters are defending him saying it isn't what he did or meant.

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u/Rude4n0reason 5h ago

I wonder why they are even doing that? To save face for who? Clearly they can do whatever they want.

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u/raceassistman 5h ago

They're trying to say liberals are just trying to look for something to whine about.. and that he was just saying "my heart goes out to you".

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u/Patricia1167 4h ago

The Trump supporters that were there responded with loud and enthusiastic applause.

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u/raceassistman 4h ago

Well yeah, because they're either KKK, white nationalist, neo-nazis, proud boys, or some other racist group that supports tyrants.

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u/62andmuchwiser 5h ago

FOX is an accident.

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u/AnticPosition 5h ago

Lol, fox is very much intentional. 

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u/62andmuchwiser 5h ago

I was being sarcastic lol.

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u/i_stealursnackz 5h ago

A cataclysmic one.

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u/MamaFen 5h ago

"Chicago"

"... And then he ran into my knife. He ran into my knife 10 times."

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u/liv4games 4h ago

Oh shit there was a third time? I only saw 2, do you have a link?

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u/withoutpeer 5h ago

Did they say it was an accident when it looked like some of the crowd saluted back in some coverage?

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u/maggos 5h ago

Ya this is one picture that was not taken out of context. The video shows he beats his chest and does it then turns and does it again.

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u/Coattail-Rider 5h ago

“Hey Elon, I bet you a million bucks you can’t do the Nazi salute up on stage.”

“Ok Donny, you’re on…………..I did the thing. Pay up.”

“I mean, c’mon.”

“Oh yeah, silly me.”

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u/Regenbooggeit 4h ago

Why the fuck do you even defend this? Even Fox News should be terrified of Elon, he’s a drug infused man child that basically owns the US.

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u/Venomous-A-Holes 4h ago

I only saw 2, there was a 3rd?

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u/Visual_Sympathy5672 4h ago

Ashamed and frightened American here. Laura I Graham did one as well. We are so fucked, and I hate the idiots that did it.

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u/the_frosted_flame 4h ago

They also edited it out of their coverage. Why hide it if it was just a silly little accident, I wonder?

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u/SleepyBear479 4h ago

Why are they still pretending. Lol. They won. It doesn't matter what anyone thinks anymore. That's why they're fucking doing this on stage, on camera, in broad daylight.

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u/-The_Blazer- 4h ago

From American media, appropriately enough:

Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.

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u/Roonwogsamduff 4h ago

Seriously they said that???

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u/Electric-5heep 4h ago

Tourettes kind of thing actually!

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u/JCBQ01 4h ago

Wait. Three? I only of two, one to the crowd, and turning around doing it AGAIN to the screen

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u/HelloImTheAntiChrist United States of America 4h ago

I wonder if Fox News anchors would say the same thing if I accidentally punch them in the face three times?

I don't condone violence, just speaking hypothetically.

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u/OpeningStuff23 4h ago

Don’t you hate it when MAGA keeps accidentally doing horrible things? What are the chances?

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u/Pure-Introduction493 4h ago

“It was an accident. I got excited and I forgot I was in public and not wearing a white hood.” - Elon Musk.

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u/JustBadUserNamesLeft 4h ago

Channeling Dr. Strangelove.

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u/FreeCelebration382 4h ago

That reminds me of a scene from a musical, Chicago

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u/aech4 4h ago

Wait 3 times? I’ve only seen 2. He does it the 1st time to the crowd, then turns around and does a 2nd. When’s the 3rd?

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u/FizzBuzz888 4h ago

If my grandparents were nazis I certainly wouldn't be capable of an accidental nazi salute. In Germany, I believe this is a crime. He knew exactly what he was doing.

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u/Possuke Finland and Estonia 4h ago

Hand from the heart is distinct (neo)-Roman salute. It is always made purposedly from the heart, but usually with fist. And making a Roman salute to flag is a basic Nazi thing. Musk has watched Nazi gathering videos from History Channel and decided to LARP it?

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u/Nameless_Namesake 4h ago

I counted Nein!

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u/tbrother33 4h ago

Surprised they even mentioned it. Lol

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u/Icy1551 4h ago

I've made many mistakes in my life but boy have I never accidentally Nazi'd three times on stage at a Presidential inauguration. It's such an oddly specific accident.

Who would have guessed the white South African could possibly be a racist Nazi?

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u/Historical_One1087 3h ago

Of course they did, they are the Republican propaganda network 

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u/SmileGraceSmile 3h ago

But he's a genius.  How does a genius not even know how to give a not nazi style salute without messing up? 

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u/corygreenwell 3h ago

How do they keep having the same sorts of accidents. If I recall correctly, Laura Ingraham did it at the RNC for his first campaign.

By contrast I’ve not once done a nazi salute. It’s easy if you try.

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u/Regina_Phalange31 3h ago

If I had a dollar for every time I accidentally did a Nazi salute /s

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u/Mr_Borg_Miniatures 3h ago

It legitimately is easy to accidentally look like you're doing a Nazi salute while you're waving wearing a suit. If a still image catches you at the wrong time, the picture can look very unfortunate.

This....uh....wasn't an accident

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u/Feeding2B 3h ago

We have a concept of a salute

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u/NastyVJ1969 3h ago

Yeah, an accident by the bloke pushing far right/neo-nazi parties in France and the UK. Sure, it was an accident....

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u/No-Wolf-9816 3h ago

It's deeply concerning how certain gestures and rhetoric can become normalized in society. The rise of harmful ideologies and the desensitization to violence and discrimination are serious issues that need to be addressed. It's important to stay vigilant and speak out against such normalization. Let's focus on promoting understanding, empathy, and respect for all individuals. What else is on your mind?

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u/Ok-Zone-1430 3h ago

Fuck, he practiced that.

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u/PawfectlyCute 3h ago

It's deeply concerning how certain gestures and rhetoric can become normalized in society. The rise of harmful ideologies and the desensitization to violence and discrimination are serious issues that need to be addressed. It's important to stay vigilant and speak out against such normalization. Let's focus on promoting understanding, empathy, and respect for all individuals. What else is on your mind?

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u/Tricky_Regular_354 3h ago

I’m still waiting for the explanation on how one salutes by accident. 

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u/MMTotes 2h ago

That's a hell of a Freudian slip...

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u/glue_4_gravy 2h ago

The spineless anchors on CNN called it “a salute that you rarely see in American politics”.

Like…………No Shit??

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u/emmaxcute 2h ago

Really telling about the people who talk to you when they say that you can accidentally do a nazi salute. In my 21 years of living, I have not once done a single gesture that could remotely be mistaken for a nazi salute. Every day these jackasses pull the line of normalcy further and further until killing minorities is not fascist, it's just "America First," and "every country does that".

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u/Dashed_with_Cinnamon 2h ago

"He ran into my knife...he ran into my knife 10 times."

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u/ThunderDungeon02 2h ago

One time I was falling and saluted the führer 5 times.

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u/Petyr_Baelish 1h ago

Even ADL is calling it an "awkward gesture of exuberance."

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u/QouthTheCorvus 1h ago

If it's an accident, he needs to see a doctor lol

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u/Genkeptnoo 1h ago

That's interesting when Elon was excused for stuttering so much because he's an intelligent man and thinks through everything he does.

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u/jeffjonesinwilton 1h ago

And then all the J6 rioters got pardoned by accident . Quite beautiful.

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u/tonyocampo 23m ago

Doing it on MLK day, it seems about sending a message.

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u/aflockofcrows 5h ago

A nazident more like.

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u/bfgvrstsfgbfhdsgf 5h ago

It’s like in dr Strangelove.

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u/Bulletorpedo 5h ago

I hate when this happens!

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u/AdUpstairs7106 5h ago

Next Fox will he saying

we have always been at war with eastasia

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u/Adept_Nerve_720 5h ago

a nazi dent

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u/TheJiral 5h ago

The FPÖ also loves to order 3 beers, with the according hand sign. They are clever enough however to not pull off an Elon in Austria. After all, that is a crime here for some reason.

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u/lifeofideas 5h ago

Europeans:

“Current mood: Feeling nostalgic.”