Since Donald Trump’s election late last year, American politics has been enveloped in a whirlwind of controversy, crisis, and chaos. However, a controversial gesture from Elon Musk at Trump’s inauguration has managed to seize masses of media attention. Drawing comparisons to fascist salutes from critics, Musk’s supporters have responded by describing him as “throwing his heart out to the crowd”.
It certainly looked like a salute. Positioned within the pageantry of a presidential inauguration, it seems obvious that this was anything other than an ode to the fascism of 1930s Europe. Alongside Musk’s wide-ranging interventions into global politics on behalf of the far-right, how could anyone conclude that it was anything else?
Then again, it could simply have been an incredibly stupid mistake. Musk is not necessarily known for his communication or interpersonal skills, and it is entirely possible he had absolutely no idea what he was doing.
Perhaps most importantly, it must be remembered that extremism and far-right politics thrive on ambiguities such as this. As long as Musk and his supporters can claim that it wasn’t a salute, or that it was “Roman” or “Bellamy”, he has sufficient plausible deniability to test the waters of popular opinion, and appeal to far-right supporters, without any risk.
However, this debate is entirely pointless.
Maybe it was a salute. Maybe it wasn’t. The harm that Elon Musk causes lies not in an outstretched arm, but in the severe damage he will do to American institutions, both perverting democracy through exorbitant campaign donations, and carving up the federal government without mercy, and seemingly without thought.
This began months before the inauguration. Musk is estimated to have spent hundreds of millions of dollars supporting the Trump campaign through a web of super-PACs (organisations that allow individuals to avoid campaign donation regulations). Support on this scale by necessity distorts elections – not only do the best-funded candidates have a stronger chance at success, but once in office, they will often enact policies that favour their financial backers.
For any candidate, this amount of spending would be concerning. Donald Trump, however, is not any candidate. Time and time again, he has been shown to favour his loyal political allies and fellow billionaires over anyone else, and his relationship with Elon Musk is, and will be, no different.
Musk’s appointment to the nebulous (and ridiculously named) Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has already shown this. Mere weeks into Trump’s presidency, a spending freeze that left schools and states in limbo over funding has been linked to his influence over policy. This has not been the only spending cut linked to DOGE – USAID, a key humanitarian organisation, and cornerstone of the US’s soft power, is now facing shutdown.
Perhaps more concerningly, this organisation has been granted access to federal payments systems that oversees billions in spending and the personal information of millions of Americans. The idea that a billionaire and his cronies, none of which have been approved by Congress, could have access to sensitive information with little oversight is almost unthinkable. Yet it is actually happening.
But back to the goddamn salute. Arguing about what it was, or wasn’t, is a distraction. A distraction from the real harm, and real danger, of Musk, and his perhaps more subtle compatriots, who are taking a chainsaw to the services that Americans rely on every day. A distraction from their decimation of due process, good governance and common sense. A distraction from real opposition.
Far-right politics depends on overwhelming people’s capacity for outrage. Each crisis, each vindictive policy, each spiteful decision, piles on top of another, making opposition seemingly impossible. To effectively speak out against, and stand up to, what Elon Musk stands for, those opposed to MAGA Republicanism have to prioritise. With the pressure that the US democratic and institutional foundations are under, there can be no wasted time.
