Not A Nazi
Trigger
He made a dumb, awkward joke—a gesture, mid-sentence, mid-thought, meant to defuse tension or punctuate a point, the way anyone might move without thinking when trying to articulate something complicated. It wasn’t sharp. It wasn’t intentional. It wasn’t cleanly executed. It was what it was: a rushed, flippant dab.
But they were waiting.
Ambush
The second his arm moved, the media latched on like they’d rehearsed it—because they had. Not this specific moment, no, but something. Anything. They’ve been searching for something – anything – from Elon Musk that they could latch onto, carefully setting the trap for a headline like this: “Musk’s Dab Sparks Fascism Debate.” They didn’t even pretend to approach it neutrally. They didn’t ask for clarification, didn’t wait for context, didn’t report. They reacted—rapidly, rabidly—because the man they hate handed them a freeze frame they could finally weaponize.
They pounced, finally spotting the misstep of the man they’d been circling for months.
Narrative
And the narrative was ready within minutes. Not just that the gesture was questionable, but that it was “eerily reminiscent,” “chilling,” “a silent salute.” They threw around terms like “dog whistle” and “coded reference” as if this was a deliberate signal instead of a half-second of movement from a man who has never, not once, aligned himself with anything even remotely close to that ideology.
Never mind that he said—clearly, repeatedly—that it was a joke. That it wasn’t serious. That it wasn’t a salute, wasn’t fascist, wasn’t anything but a dumb, impulsive moment. He said it plainly. But they ignored that part, because it doesn’t generate outrage. And without outrage, they don’t have power.
Disobedience
This is not about accuracy. It’s about targeting someone who doesn’t obey.
Since he started supporting President Trump, they’ve hated him. Not because he’s harmful, but because he’s unmanaged. Because he questions the things they protect. Because he undermines institutions they’re still pretending deserve reverence. Because he jokes when they want silence and speaks when they want him still. Because he refuses to play the game.
So the second they had something they could twist, they did. Not slowly. Not cautiously. With velocity. With certainty. With that smug tone they reserve for people they want to destroy, because he doesn’t scare easily, and they need him smaller.
Escalation
And now? Now it’s not just headlines.
There are videos—AI-generated—depicting his death. There are open calls for violence. People are burning effigies of him in the street, and others are applauding. They’ve moved past disagreement and into dehumanization. Not because he hurt anyone, not because he committed some grave sin, but because they were told, over and over, that he was dangerous, and eventually, people stopped asking what that danger actually was.
Control
It’s not about the gesture. It never was. It’s about control. And the punishment for breaking narrative alignment—especially when you do it with reach, with intelligence, with actual influence—is annihilation.
Perspective
He’s not perfect. He’s awkward. He’s blunt. He is, by his own admission, sometimes difficult to understand. But that’s not a crime. And it’s certainly not justification for what they’re doing to him now. You can dislike someone and still recognize a smear campaign. You can disagree with someone and still tell the truth. But that’s not what’s happening.
They’re not correcting him. They’re erasing him.
Punchline
He dabbed. They called him a Nazi.
And too many people nodded along, not because they believed it, but because they’d been waiting for a reason not to think for themselves. Because it's easier to play along than admit the whole thing is built on performance.
He didn’t salute anyone.
And if you're pretending otherwise, you're not confused.
You're complicit.
He’s not dangerous – he’s a doofus.
