By now everyone has seen what MAGA supporters are desperately trying to convince us we didn’t see: Elon Musk’s (alleged) Nazi salute at President Donald  Trump’s Inauguration. Musk apologists have tried to explain that the tech bro was actually doing a Roman salute as if Musk was Roman or in Rome or at an event where such a gesture would have been deemed appropriate. They’ve also offered the speculative excuse that Musk is neurodivergent and we’re all mistaking an awkward, autistic way of waving as a Nazi salute. But for those of us who have eyes and an unwillingness to pretend those eyes didn’t see what they saw, what Musk did was leave the crowd, not once, but twice, with a very intentional salute that very much resembled that of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime.

Elon wasn’t demonstrating a Roman salute. He wasn’t showing evidence of autism. He wasn’t karate-chopping flies. He wasn’t trying to show the people in the bleachers his fresh manicure. Elon Musk gave his audience a very purposeful gesture that he knew or should have known would be identified by the public as a Nazi salute.

So why is the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) working so hard to excuse it?

From The Hill:

“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,” the ADL wrote in a Monday post on Musk’s social platform X. “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 edge.”

“In this moment, all sides should give one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt, and take a breath,” the ADL said. “This is a new beginning. Let’s hope for healing and work toward unity in the months and years ahead.”

Ahhh, so it was simply an “awkward gesture” resulting from his and our collective “anxiety” and people being “on edge.” The ADL certainly is extending Musk plenty of grace (much like Musk extended….well — you know). 

Here’s a question: Why didn’t the ADL have the same “grace” for Kyrie Irving?

In 2022, the NBA star made the mistake of sharing a link for the documentary, Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America, which included material that was decidedly antisemitic. Now, we don’t know that Irving was even aware of the antisemitism included in the film he shared the link for. There’s certainly nothing in the simple sharing of a link that definitively reveals his thoughts towards Jewish people, or even the documentary for that matter.

Irving was thoroughly denounced and labeled antisemitic by the ADL, which offered the designation with zero hesitation. ADL officials didn’t say, “Look, a lot of people are on edge. Trump was voted out of office and he inspired a riot last year, so our politics are inflamed, and social media only adds to the anxiety. Maybe Irving didn’t realize what he was sharing. Maybe he lacks understanding of the ramifications of what he shared.” In 2022, the ADL noted that Hebrews to Negroes “promotes beliefs commonly found among antisemitic and extremist factions of the BHI movement, including claims that modern Jews are imposters who stole the religious heritage of Black people and have engaged in a ‘cover-up’ to prevent Black people from knowing their ‘true’ identity.” But the non-profit didn’t give Irving enough “grace” to put what they call antisemitism in the context of Black Americans — who were completely removed from their ancestral culture and heritage by the Western world — searching for the truth of our collective identity. In other words: Maybe Irving wasn’t antisemitic. Maybe he was just undereducated on the subject.

At the time of the controversy, Irving was asked directly during a press conference if he held any antisemitic views.

“Again, I’m going to repeat. I don’t know how the label becomes justified because you guys ask me the same questions over and over again,” Irving said. “But this is not going to turn into a spin-around cycle — questions upon questions.

“I told you guys how I felt. I respect all walks of life and embrace all walks of life. That’s where I sit…I cannot be antisemitic if I know where I come from,” he continued.

ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt was displeased.

“The answer to the question ‘Do you have any antisemitic beliefs’ is always ‘NO’ without equivocation,” Greenblatt tweeted. “We took @KyrieIrving at his word when he said he took responsibility, but today he did not make good on that promise. Kyrie clearly has a lot of work to do.”

So, just to recap: Irving, an athlete who is not involved in politics, governing or policy making, shared a controversial link and failed to say the words, “No, I’m not antisemitic,” so he must be antisemitic. Musk, the guy who has been serving as Trump’s right hand (while his own right hand served as…well — you know) and has been tapped to lead the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, delivered the world’s most recognizable hand and arm gesture indicating Nazi allegiance, but that was just him being “awkward.

So, maybe it’s long past time we started questioning the ADL’s credibility. Some activists and Democratic leaders certainly think so.

“Just to be clear, you are defending a Heil Hitler salute that was performed and repeated for emphasis and clarity,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Monday. “People can officially stop listening to you as any sort of reputable source of information now. You work for them. Thank you for making that crystal clear to all.”

Exactly.

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