'The Holocaust is not a joke': Group that initially defended Musk’s salute turns on him

After the world's richest man made what fascism expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat called a "Nazi salute," one leading authority on anti-Semitism gave him the "benefit of the doubt." But any goodwill between the two seems to be gone after Musk made several references to Nazi Germany on his X account.

Rolling Stone reported Thursday that Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk appears to have fallen out of the good graces of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) following a Thursday post on X in which Musk made several puns invoking the names of notorious Nazi leaders like Deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess, Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, Reichstag President Hermann Göring and SS Commander Heinrich Himmler.

"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," Musk tweeted Thursday with a crying-laughing emoji.

READ MORE: Local meteorologist after social media post criticizing Musk's 'Nazi salute'

"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," ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt wrote, quote-tweeting Musk and mentioning his handle. "[T]he Holocaust is not a joke."

The response from Greenblatt was particularly noteworthy that the ADL stood up for Musk after he made headlines for making what the Guardian called "back-to-back fascist salutes" during an Inauguration Day speech. The ADL's verified account tweeted that Musk "made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute" but added that the organization understands "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 tweeted. "This is a new beginning. Let’s hope for healing and work toward unity in the months and years ahead."

Berlin, Germany-based newspaper Die Zeitdid not hesitate to condemn Musk's gesture. In an op-ed earlier this week, journalist Lenz Jacobsen wrote that "the gesture speaks for itself" and that there was "no need to make this unnecessarily complicated."

READ MORE: 'The gesture speaks for itself': German newspaper blasts Elon Musk's 'Hitler salute'

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