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Elon Musk's Nazi Salute Didn't hurt Tesla · Elon Musk Podcast

• 0:01
  Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Elon Musk
• 0:04
  Podcast. This is a show where we discuss
• 0:07
  the critical crossroads, the Shape, SpaceX, Tesla X, The
• 0:11
  Boring Company, and Neurolink. I'm your host, Will Walden.
• 0:16
  There's some subject matter in this episode that might not be
• 0:19
  OK for some people. It's about Elon Musk and his
• 0:24
  recent Nazi esque salutes and his arm movements, arm motions,
• 0:31
  whatever you want to call them. That's what this episode is
• 0:33
  about. So if you have a problem with
• 0:35
  that, if it's going to make you upset, you don't need to listen
• 0:38
  to this. There's there's not a lot going
• 0:41
  on here reporting the news about anti defamation League and also
• 0:47
  Tesla, some social media stuff and how the public's little bit
• 0:50
  divided. So if that's going to offend
• 0:52
  you, just, you know, just take that into consideration before
• 0:56
  you listen to this episode. So Elon Musk was standing at a
• 1:00
  podium bearing the seal of the United States president back on
• 1:04
  Monday. And it was captured twice,
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  raising his arm in a way that some interpreted as resembling
• 1:12
  the Nazi salute. This gesture, which is widely
• 1:15
  recognized as a symbol of heat and historical atrocities, was
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  called out by scholars, journalists, and human rights
• 1:22
  organizations. But despite the backlash,
• 1:25
  neither Musk nor his company, Tesla, has faced any apparent
• 1:29
  financial repercussions for this controversy.
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  Musk responded to the accusations with characteristic
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  defiance, laughing off claims that he intentionally made a
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  salute like that. He called the controversy dirty
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  tricks and sarcastically thanked the Anti Defamation League of
• 1:46
  the ADL for initially defending him.
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  The ADL had stated that the gesture was likely just an
• 1:52
  awkward moment rather than an intentional salute.
• 1:55
  However, the billionaire's nonchalant dismissal of the
• 1:58
  criticism and a few to the fire for those already scrutinizing
• 2:02
  his associations with far right ideologies.
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  This isn't the first time that Elon Musk has faced accusations
• 2:08
  of engaging with controversial or extremist viewpoints.
• 2:12
  Musk has been under scrutiny for what critics call a growing
• 2:15
  alignment with far right circles.
• 2:17
  Notably, the publicity endorsed Germany's hard right Alternative
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  Fiora Deutschland Afd party, whose policies have been
• 2:27
  condemned by numerous human rights organizations.
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  Now on X, Musk has allowed the proliferation of Nazi related
• 2:34
  and anti-Semitic content after he took over and often amplifies
• 2:39
  such accounts or failed to enforce moderation policies
• 2:43
  against them. It's the free speech platform of
• 2:45
  course, so he's not going to stop them doing what they do.
• 2:49
  And it one particularly controversial incident, Musk
• 2:52
  replied to an anti-Semitic post calling it the actual truth.
• 2:56
  Now, just so you know, I am anti Nazi.
• 3:02
  Any sort of racism, any sort of Nazi, people can suck it go
• 3:09
  away. But I wanted to let you all know
• 3:13
  that we're going to talk about this stuff a little bit more.
• 3:16
  And following backlash over this incident, Musk offered a public
• 3:20
  apology, describing it as literally the worst and dumbest
• 3:23
  post I've ever done. He subsequently visited
• 3:26
  Auschwitz, a symbolic gesture meant to demonstrate contrition.
• 3:30
  Yet critics argue that Musk's actions, including his dismissal
• 3:34
  of concerns over the alleged Nazi salute, suggest a pattern
• 3:38
  of courting controversy while showing limited accountability.
• 3:42
  We all know Elon Musk is a troll.
• 3:45
  But despite the public outrage and growing concern about Musk's
• 3:48
  behavior, Tesla's financial performance remains unaffected.
• 3:52
  On Tuesday, Tesla's stock closed virtually unchanged, signaling
• 3:57
  investors apparent indifference to the controversy.
• 4:00
  They either just didn't see it or they don't care.
• 4:02
  And analysts note that since Donald Trump's election, Tesla
• 4:05
  shares have surged 65%, outperforming competitors and
• 4:10
  the broader market. Observer suggests that Musk's
• 4:13
  close ties to the Trump administration may shield him
• 4:16
  from the potential fallout of his divisive actions.
• 4:20
  Now. Musk's association with far
• 4:22
  right ideologies has also drawn criticisms from within those
• 4:25
  very circles. Steve Bannon, a polarizing
• 4:28
  figure of alt right politics, is openly called Musk evil and
• 4:32
  demanded his removal from the White House, where Musk calls an
• 4:35
  influential advisory role. However, analysts suggest that
• 4:39
  Musk's perceived ability to appeal the ban his base, whether
• 4:42
  intentionally or inadvertently, may insulate him from these
• 4:46
  attacks. Now.
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  The ADL, which initially defended Musk after his gesture,
• 4:51
  later issued a sharp condemnation.
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  The organization criticized Musk's decision to make jokes
• 4:56
  about Nazis on X, labeling his remarks inappropriate and
• 5:00
  offensive. They emphasize the unique
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  historical and moral gravity of the Holocaust dating.
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  It is never acceptable to make light of a singularly evil
• 5:10
  chapter in human history. Now, social media platforms and
• 5:14
  communities have been quick to react to Musk's actions.
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  Reddit saw a surge in conversations and debates about
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  whether to limit a or ban links to X.
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  Several subreddits, including Our Christianity, Our New
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  Jersey, have already enacted bans on and X related content.
• 5:32
  This also includes R slash Godzilla, citing Musk's
• 5:36
  controversial gestures as a tipping point.
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  And moderators of other subreddits such as R slash RVA
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  and R slash NBA are actively discussing similar measures,
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  while some have opted to restrict X content by allowing
• 5:49
  screenshots instead of direct links to reduce traffic to
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  Musk's platform. Now, one Reddit user wrote on
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  the R/D and D subreddit given Musk's actions on Monday, and
• 6:02
  may be time to rethink how we engage with the platform.
• 6:05
  The user went on to criticize Musk's history of amplifying
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  harmful rhetoric and interacting with accounts, promoting Nasi
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  ideology and raising broader concerns about X's role in
• 6:16
  spreading hate speech and extremism.
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  But not all Reddit users agree with the bans.
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  Some pointed out the perceived inconsistency in singling out of
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  X while allowing content from platforms like Meta, which
• 6:28
  recently ended its fact checking program, or True Social, a site
• 6:32
  often associated with right wing misinformation.
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  However, others defended the bans, arguing the collective
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  action was one of the few tools left for communities to take a
• 6:41
  stand against harmful behavior. Tech CE OS Reddit, for its part,
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  allows subreddit moderators significant autonomy and setting
• 6:49
  and enforcing their rules. Platform does not have a blanket
• 6:52
  policy on banning links to specific websites, leaving
• 6:55
  decisions up to individual subreddit communities.
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  Now this decentralized moderation system, according to
• 7:01
  Derek Powersack, author of Designed for Community, is one
• 7:05
  of the few remaining examples of collective online action.
• 7:09
  In a Blue Sky post, he said Reddit's structure actually
• 7:12
  gives moderators a bit of power, which is increasingly rare in
• 7:17
  online spaces. And while Musk's defenders
• 7:19
  argued that his gestures and online behavior are being
• 7:22
  exaggerated or misinterpreted, critics view them as part of a
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  broader pattern of behavior that normalizes hate and
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  anti-Semitism. Video clips of Musk's alleged
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  salute have been widely shared on social media on every
• 7:34
  platform, often juxtaposed with images of neo Nazis performing
• 7:38
  identical gestures, including Hitler.
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  And for many, this visual comparison leaves little room
• 7:43
  for doubt about the seriousness of the accusations.
• 7:47
  Despite the criticism, though, Musk dominance in technology,
• 7:51
  social media, and business remains largely intact.
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  And unaffected, his ability to retain public support and
• 7:58
  investor confidence in Tesla shows that he has a unique
• 8:01
  position as both a polarizing and influential figure.
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  When it comes down to it, people that are investing in companies,
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  they want to make money and there might not be a moral
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  threshold for some people. Some, and I'm just speaking from
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  direct experience with some people that are invested with
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  Tesla, some people have taken out some of their money, but
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  also you have to think somebody else is going to buy that stock
• 8:31
  anyway. So why would you do that?
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  Why wouldn't you just make the money?
• 8:36
  So those are some questions you have to think about, like, do
• 8:39
  you want to support this guy and until you know exactly what he
• 8:43
  was thinking or are you going to have a knee jerk reaction, pull
• 8:47
  all your money out, lose a bunch of money that you and your
• 8:49
  family could use. That's where some people are
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  coming from. So just think about that too.
• 8:53
  And when making these decisions. Now Tesla, well, it's bolstered
• 8:59
  by its market performance, shows no signs of losing momentum,
• 9:02
  though it's going up, up, up, even as these controversies
• 9:05
  surrounding Elon continue to pile up.
• 9:09
  Now he has ties to Donald Trump, and his apparent appeal to right
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  wing factions pose critical questions about the role of tech
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  leaders and CE OS and shaping public discourse.
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  He has a lot of power. For now, Musk remains defiant,
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  brushing off backlash while continuing to consolidate his
• 9:26
  influence across industries and political lines.
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  So Musk's gestures, the Nazi salute, social media policies
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  and political alliances show that there's a deepening divide
• 9:38
  between his critics and his supporters.
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  Though whether this divided will eventually impact Musk's public
• 9:44
  standing, his financial empire or political ambitions remain
• 9:49
  uncertain. And everybody has to make their
• 9:51
  own choice. So, you know, before you invest,
• 9:56
  make sure you know who the leaders of the companies are
• 9:59
  that you're investing in. It's important, you know, work
• 10:02
  with your work, with your morals here if you're going to invest
• 10:05
  in something. So that's up to you, whatever
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  your morals are. I'm not here to tell you right
• 10:08
  or wrong, but some people, they pulled out, some people they put
• 10:13
  money in. It's up to them.
• 10:16
  Now if you've been listening to the show for a while, I'm trying
• 10:20
  to make the show ad free more so than not.
• 10:24
  So I'm going to leave a link to my Venmo in the description or
• 10:28
  the show notes. And if you have a few dollars to
• 10:32
  donate, that's going to help me recoup some of the money from
• 10:36
  ads. And I'll, as I keep recouping
• 10:38
  more money and leveraging that compared to the ads on the show,
• 10:46
  little by little, we're going to have less ads on the show.
• 10:48
  And I've noticed that also about 90% of you aren't subscribed to
• 10:53
  the show. I've been looking at my stats.
• 10:55
  90% of you come in, watch or listen to an episode, and then
• 10:59
  leave and don't subscribe. Maybe you just haven't set the
• 11:02
  subscribe button, maybe you forgot.
• 11:04
  But if you want more conversations like this and want
• 11:08
  to continue listening to Elon Musk news, hit the subscribe or
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  follow button on whatever podcast platform you're on right
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  now. It's going to help the show a
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• 11:21
  Also, we have a Discord so if you want to continue the
• 11:24
  conversation there, there's a link in the description for that
• 11:27
  too. Hey, thank you so much for
• 11:37
  listening today. I really do appreciate your
• 11:39
  support. If you could take a second and
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  hit the subscribe or the follow button on whatever podcast
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  appreciate it. It helps out the show
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• 12:03
  And please take care of yourselves and each other.
• 12:05
  And I'll see you tomorrow.