From the Liveblog of
Thursday, January 23, 2025
Elon Musk makes Holocaust jokes after Netanyahu defends him as ‘great friend of Israel’
After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to the defense of Elon Musk over accusations he made Nazi salutes at a presidential inauguration rally, the world’s richest man is cracking Holocaust jokes on social media.
In an X post today, Musk writes, adding laughing-face emojis: “Don’t say Hess to Nazi accusations! Some people will Goebbels anything down! Stop Gőring your enemies! His pronouns would’ve been He/Himmler! Bet you did nazi that coming.”
His post earns reprobation from Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, a group that previously stressed that Musk’s hand gesture was not a Nazi symbol.
Don’t say Hess to Nazi accusations!
Some people will Goebbels anything down!
Stop Gőring your enemies!
His pronouns would’ve been He/Himmler!
Bet you did nazi that coming ????
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 23, 2025
“We’ve said it hundreds of times before and we will say it again: the Holocaust was a singularly evil event, and it is inappropriate and offensive to make light of it,” Greenblatt writes on X. Addressing Musk, he adds, “The Holocaust is not a joke.”
Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee, denounces Musk’s jokes in stronger terms.
“Wordplay about Nazis isn’t funny. It isn’t clever. And it’s dangerous,” Deutch writes on X. Addressing Musk, he adds, “However you feel about the accusations being made against you, this is absolutely the wrong response. Nazi-themed ‘jokes’ are offensive and harmful. Don’t belittle the seriousness of the Holocaust; you give cover to those who seek to do the same.”
