World’s richest man Elon Musk slammed for Hitler tweet
Tesla boss Elon Musk has been slammed for posting a meme that compared Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Adolf Hitler.
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been slammed after posting a Hitler meme on Twitter.
The world’s richest man was responding to a tweet by crypto news site CoinDesk. The publication was reporting on an order by Canadian authorities for financial institutions not to interact with 34 different crypto addresses tied to the country’s ongoing trucker protests.
Mr Musk posted a photo of German dictator Adolf Hitler with the words, “Stop comparing me to Canadian PM Justin Trudeau. I had a budget.”
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Mr Trudeau this week invoked the Emergencies Act, which gives the government wide new powers to end the demonstrations over Covid restrictions.
The move marked only the second time in Canadian history such emergency powers have been invoked in peacetime. The decision was widely criticised by US conservatives.
Mr Musk is one of many right-leaning figures who have cheered on the Freedom Convoy. At one point he tweeted, “Canadian truckers rule!”
The Tesla boss was blasted for comparing Mr Trudeau to Hitler by the American Jewish Committee, which called for him to apologise.
A spokesman said, “Once again, Elon Musk has exercised extremely poor judgment by invoking Hitler to make a point on social media. He must stop this unacceptable behaviour.
“Musk may believe posting a meme comparing Justin Trudeau to a genocidal dictator who exterminated millions is an appropriate way to criticise policies he disagrees with. It is not. It never is.”
The official account of the Auschwitz Memorial stated, “Using the image of Adolf Hitler and therefore exploiting the tragedy of all people who suffered, were humiliated, tortured and murdered by the totalitarian regime of Nazi Germany created by him is sad and disturbing.
“It disrespects the memory of all victims and hurts many people.”
Journalist Dan Rather wrote, “To see this face staring back at us, with a message like this, is absolutely beyond the pale of any civilised communication. I think of the millions dead. I think of a world destroyed. I shake with anger. The pit of my stomach is sick. I am deeply saddened.”
Reporter Evan Solomon wrote, “This is what debate is coming to? Musk uses a Hitler comparison? The outrageous suggestion that Canada has any resemblance to fascist Germany is vulgar, inaccurate, inflammatory and is insulting to survivors of the Holocaust.”
Mr Musk has since deleted the inflammatory tweet.
However, Tesla Facts – a Twitter handle run by the electric vehicle company – wrote on the CoinDesk post, “Actually, a little known historical fact is that pre-WWII Germany’s military build-up was in large part financed through deficit spending, so-called ‘Mefo bills’: bonds all Germany companies could substitute for tax payments. So he had no budget either.”
Mr Musk then replied, “For an in-depth explanation, read,” and posted a link to a Wikipedia page on the nonfiction book The Wages of Destruction.
Mr Musk posted a meme earlier this year which stated, “Everyone I don’t like is Hitler” and wrote, “So many Hitlers!”
So many Hitlers! pic.twitter.com/52sUuPcB93
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 30, 2022
Mr Trudeau has himself come under fire for using “inflammatory” language. He sparked fury in the Canadian House of Commons when responding to a question from Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman on Wednesday.
“Conservative Party members can stand with people who wave swastikas, they can stand with people who wave the Confederate flag,” Mr Trudeau said.
‘Time to end’
The so-called “Freedom Convoy” started with truckers protesting against mandatory Covid vaccines to cross the US border, but its demands have since grown to include an end to all pandemic health rules and, for many, a wider anti-establishment agenda.
At its peak, the movement also included blockades of a half-dozen border crossings — including a key trade route across the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan.
Canadian police issued an ultimatum Wednesday to protesters who’ve been choking Ottawa streets for 20 days to leave the capital, as state and provincial leaders called for an end to the cross-border vaccine requirement that sparked the trucker-led movement.
Officials, meanwhile, announced a negotiated peaceful end to the last of several recent blockades by protesters of border crossings between Canada and the United States.
“You must leave the area now,” Ottawa police said in a notice distributed to truckers outside parliament.
Anyone blocking streets or assisting others in doing so will be arrested and face charges, as well as fines and seizures of their trucks, the statement said.
Police also warned that anyone charged or convicted for taking part in the illegal demonstration may, in addition to criminal penalties, be barred from travelling to the United States.
As the notices were handed out, AFP journalists saw hundreds of trucks continuing to occupy streets in the parliamentary precinct, blaring horns — despite an extension Wednesday of a court order against the deafening noises, obtained by an area resident fed up with the disruptions.
“We’re still a lot of trucks holding the line,” trucker David Shaw, 65, told AFP. If arrested, he added: “I’ll keep coming back.”
Mr Trudeau told reporters Wednesday that with police now getting help from various other law enforcement units, they should “be able to begin their actions.” “It’s time for this to end,” he said, adding that it was up to “police to decide when and how.” On Tuesday, Ottawa’s interim police Chief Steve Bell said a “turning point” has been reached.
“I believe we now have the resources and partners to bring a safe end to this occupation,” he said.
– with AFP
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Originally published as World’s richest man Elon Musk slammed for Hitler tweet
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