The Jewish Anti-Defamation League has attacked tech billionaire and close Donald Trump adviser Elon Musk for making light of the Holocaust with a series of Nazi “jokes” Thursday.
The sharp criticism came just days after the ADL defended Musk against accusations of anti-semitism and racism by saying his controversial stiff-armed salute at Trump’s inauguration Monday was simply “awkward” and not a Nazi salute — even though it was widely hailed as such by white nationalists and many other of Trump’s MAGA supporters.
Musk mocked the controversy over his salute Thursday with a series of quips on X featuring word play with the names of some of Adolf Hitler’s leading Nazis, including Rudolph Hess, Joseph Goebels, Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler, who played key roles in killing 6 million Jews.
“Don’t say Hess to Nazi accusations!” Musk wrote in a post, adding: “Some people will Goebbels anything down! Stop Gőring your enemies! His pronouns would’ve been He/Himmler! “
Musk concluded: “Bet you did nazi that coming,” with a laughing-to-tears emoji.
This time ADL head Jonathan Greenblatt quickly slammed back at Musk on X: “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 ... @elonmusk, the Holocaust is not a joke.”
In its own post Thursday the ADL quoted Greenblatt’s message, and added: “Making inappropriate and highly offensive jokes that trivialize the Holocaust only serve to minimize the evil and inhumanity of Nazi crimes, denigrate the suffering of both victims and survivors and insult the memory of the six million Jews murdered in the Shoah.”
The response was a pointed turnaround following the uproar after Musk’s controversial salute Monday, when the ADL came to his defense.
“This is a delicate moment,” the ADL emphasized in its message on X then.
“It seems that [Musk] 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,” it added.
Musk has yet to respond to the new ADL criticism.
