--- title: "Jewish Leaders Horrified as Elon Musk Tweets Barrage of Holocaust Jokes" description: "Sieg Denial Elon Musk's edgelord tendencies are alienating even his defenders in the Jewish advocacy world. After making what was almost certainly a double \"Sieg Heil\" salute at President Donald Trump's inaugural festivities, Musk doubled down by making a slew of disgusting puns using the names of Nazi leaders like Herman Göring and Joseph Goebbels. \"Don’t say Hess to Nazi accusations!\" the buffoonish billionaire posted on the platform he owns, a reference to Adolf Hitler's second-hand man Rudolph Hess. \"I bet you did nazi that coming.\" A seeming extension of the buffoonish billionaire's insistence that he was not making a […]" date: "2025-01-23" modified: "2025-01-23" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/jewish-leaders-elon-musk-holocaust-jokes" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "antisemitism" - "elon musk" - "holocaust" - "the digest" --- # Jewish Leaders Horrified as Elon Musk Tweets Barrage of Holocaust Jokes ![Elon Musk's edgelord tendencies are alienating even his defenders in the Jewish advocacy world amid his latest Nazi fiasco.]() *Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gestures as he speaks during the inaugural parade inside Capitol One Arena, in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP) (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images) \Image: ANGELA WEISS / AFP) (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images\* ## Edge Case Elon Musk's edgelord tendencies are now alienating even some of his most ardent defenders. After making what was almost certainly a double "[Sieg Heil]()" salute at President Donald Trump's inaugural festivities, Musk doubled down today by making a slew of disgusting puns using the names of Nazi leaders like [Herman Göring]() and [Joseph Goebbels](). "Don’t say Hess to Nazi accusations!" the buffoonish billionaire [posted]() on the platform he owns, a reference to Adolf Hitler's second-hand man Rudolf Hess. "I bet you did nazi that coming." The egregious edgelord jokes earned Musk condemnation from the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish organization that raised eyebrows by defending his Nazi salute days prior as an "[awkward gesture]()." "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," [posted]() ADL head Jonathan Greenblatt, who didn't make any mention of his organization's previous defense of the Nazi salute foible. ## Judgment Day Ted Deutch, the head of the more than [century-old American Jewish Committee](), also took Musk to task. "Wordplay about Nazis isn’t funny," [Deutch tweeted](). "It isn’t clever. And it’s dangerous." The South African-born businessman's proximity to the president was also decried by conservative columnist and self-described "[renegade Jew]()" Bill Kristol, who [succinctly observed]() that Musk is a "senior White House official \[who\] thinks Nazi jokes are funny." Social neuroscience pioneer Matt Lieberman, meanwhile, linked Musk's support for the Alternative for Germany neo-Nazi party to this latest stunt — and detailed what could have been. "Many are disturbed that the world's richest man and \[second-in-command\] of our country made a Nazi salute after supporting a Neo-Nazi party in Germany," Lieberman wrote. "He could have diffused things by saying 'My bad — I didn't mean to do a gesture that looked like that.'" "Instead," the neuroscientist continued, "he said this." If Musk is so insistent that he [doesn't hold Nazi beliefs](), he should probably refrain from making tasteless jokes about the genocidal regime — especially now that he's stepped even more into the public spotlight with Trump. **More on Musk:** [*Elon Musk Seen Acting Strangely Before Nazi Salute*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()