When it comes to Nazi gestures, believe your ‘lying eyes’… Here we go again!

In late January, I published a post here in The Blogs calling out Elon Musk for his Nazi salutes at a Trump Inaugural event. Musk, who supports Germany’s extreme right-wing party AfD, has made antisemitic comments in the past, has defended racist speech to the detriment of its victims, and has allowed Twitter/X to become a cesspool of antisemitism and other hate speech. Since my late January blog post, Musk has become synonymous with the efforts to reform, well, better said,  “tear down” – much of the US Government.

Now, just several days ago, another highly influential Trumper – Steve Bannon – flashed a Nazi salute at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) while exhorting the crowd to “fight, fight, fight.”

In response to outrage from various places, Bannon claimed the gesture was “a wave.” He claimed: “I do it at the end of all my speeches to thank the crowd.” If you actually believe this pablum, get ready to win the lottery next week. Anyone who watched it knows it was, what our eyes told us it was. It was a Nazi salute.

So, two senior and influential Trump sycophants have now – in the space of weeks – made widely seen Nazi salutes. Their apologists in the conservative media, Congress and the cult that is “Always Trump” give us excuses, justifications and rationalizations about how neither Musk nor Bannon made Nazi gestures.

But please, take a look at the video of Bannon raising his arm and ask yourself “What was it?” And even if Bannon does make the gesture to thank his crowds, he is not exactly denying it was a Nazi salute. Could Bannon often use a Nazi salute to thank his crowds? Reading his words, listening to his statements and watching the video, it’s definitely a possibility. And that makes his doing so somehow acceptable?

The gesture was too much even for Jordan Bardella, president of the French far-right National Rally party, who cancelled his own speech at CPAC in reaction to what he called “a gesture referring to Nazi ideology.” You know it’s bad when a far-right politician runs away from CPAC, its faux conservatism and its incessant display of loyalty to Trump.

When I saw Bannon’s Nazi salute, I could not help but think of the many comments I received from Trump supporters and Musk apologists in response to my article on Musk’s Nazi salute. I do appreciate their reading the blog post and commenting. I appreciate their passion for what I wrote…even if they don’t agree with me.

It was a unique experience for me to be called so many names by the Trump/Musk apologists, including “hater,” “pearl-clutcher,” “hysterical,” “sick,” “conspiracy theorist,” “leftist,” and “progressive.” The names didn’t bother me because my father often quoted Eleanor Roosevelt, American first lady and pioneer in her own right, who often said “When they start calling you names, you have won the argument.”

My favorite comment was from the reader who wrote that I am “as nutty as a fruit bat.” Not exactly sure if that’s a real phrase. I think the reader meant, “as nutty as a fruit cake,” which somehow makes more sense.

But I have to ask, When did it become “nutty” or crazy to call out Nazi ideology and symbolism in the United States? Unfortunately, the answer is, it became that way on Monday, January 20, 2025.

So, for all those who justified Elon Musk’s “salute” and defended Steve Bannon’s “wave,” and for those who see these gestures as an expression of enthusiasm or gratitude or even something more, shall we say, authoritarian, I have a few questions:

– What are we to think or do when the next Always Trumper makes a gesture that looks strikingly like a Nazi salute?

– Should we believe that it was a coincidence that Musk and Bannon – within just a month – both trying to exhort Trump supporters — used gestures that look remarkably like Nazi salutes?

– Should we be troubled by Bannon not actually denying he used a Nazi salute? He offered it was “a wave like I did all the time.”

– Even if we were to believe the protestations of Musk and Bannon, should we not be concerned they seemed so unaware that their gestures – for some or many — mimic the Nazi’s gestures?

– Do the gestures represent what some see as “the emerging signs of democratic erosion” and attempts to drive an “irreversible transformation of the US political system?”

In the 1860’s, a book by Anthony Weldon, The Court and Character of King James, gave us the phrase “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” We ought to remember that phrase as we watch the changes taking place in America today.

As for Bannon’s “wave,” this time, like the last time with Musk’s Nazi gesture, I choose to believe my “lying eyes.”

Once again, that wasn’t so hard, was it?