Monday was an exuberant day of celebration for much of America — and then there’s the mainstream media. Left-leaning outlets haven’t learned the lessons that led us to Inauguration Day 2025, and their coverage of the day demonstrates it.
Elon Musk spoke at the Capital One Arena. Everybody knows that Musk is an awkward figure, and even his heartfelt speech included some awkward gestures. At one point, he told the crowd, “My heart goes out to you” and gestured by dramatically extending his hand from his heart toward the people in the arena.
Billionaire Elon Musk gave what appeared to be a fascist salute Monday while making a speech at the post-inauguration celebration for President Donald Trump at the Capital One Arena.
— PBS News (@NewsHour) January 20, 2025
“Some elections are important, some are not. But this one, this one really mattered and I just… pic.twitter.com/K8Fo0sdozL
Naturally, PBS News interpreted Musk’s gesture as a Nazi salute. Correspondent Stephanie Sy said:
We did see Mr. Musk during that speech and we saw the gesture. I don't know whether the audience here interpreted it the way it was subsequently interpreted on social media. It certainly appears to be a “Heil Hitler.” At the time, what he was saying— we went back to the transcript, and I remember him saying it, he was saying, “My heart goes out to you.” So he was gesturing to his chest and then there was the hand straight out, which harkens back for a lot of folks to the Nazi salute. But we didn't see that reaction here. There wasn't a gasp or a pause or any even reinforcement of the gesture. So, it's a little hard to tell, from where we sat, the meaning of it.
Commenters on X shared photos of Democrats raising their arms in a similar gesture, and the Community Notes are on fire. Most notes assert that Musk wasn’t channeling Nazis with his wave, while some notes cited a self-professed “Holocaust historian” who confirmed that Musk was performing a Nazi salute. The “historian” was so secure in his opinion that he shut off comments so people couldn’t disagree with him.
Related: The Peaceful Transfer of Power
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) — not a bastion of Trumpian conservatism — rushed to Musk’s defense. In a remarkably magnanimous post on X, the ADL announced:
This is a delicate moment. It’s a new day and yet so many are on edge. Our politics are inflamed, and social media only adds to the anxiety.
— ADL (@ADL) January 20, 2025
It seems that @elonmusk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on…
Below “show more,” the ADL says, “In this moment, all sides should give one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt, and take a breath. This is a new beginning. Let’s hope for healing and work toward unity in the months and years ahead.”
Musk replied:
Thanks guys 😂
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 21, 2025
The problem, of course, is that the left-wing media is incapable of showing grace to anyone it disagrees with. It’s a problem we’ve seen time and time again; the left is so worked up over anyone who doesn’t fall in line behind its policies that it can’t help but see those people as the worst extremes. Like the boy who cried wolf, everybody who isn’t of the far left is an extremist; thus we can’t see the real extremists when they pop up.
“Also, note to the Democrats and the American press corps — when everyone you hate is a racist, a bigot, a misogynist, or a Nazi, you actually make it very easy for the racists, the bigots, the misogynists, and the Nazis to thrive,” Erick Erickson wrote on Tuesday morning. “They can rise in your failure to distinguish and discern because if everyone you hate is a racist or a Nazi, then no one really is, even the real ones.”
The left is never going to learn its lesson. Self-reflection isn’t a leftist quality, and we can only hope that it will keep them out of power for a long time to come.
It's a new era, but our calling to report the truth remains. Even with a new administration in town, you can still count on us to tell the truth and have tons of fun doing it, and you can help us by becoming a PJ Media VIP.
Our VIPs are the lifeblood of what we do, and they invest in our mission — plus they receive some great rewards, including exclusive content, podcasts, an ad-free experience, and commenting privileges.
It’s a great time to become a VIP because we’re running a limited-time summer special. Get 74% off your VIP membership when you use the code POTUS47 during our inauguration sale. Hurry: the sale ends Tuesday night!
Join the conversation as a VIP Member