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Sarah and I did a super-sized Secret pod for you this morning, but it won’t be ready for a little bit. So keep your eyes out. —JVL
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1. Walks Like a Duck
Remember this?
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Anti-Defamation League Chief Executive Jonathan Greenblatt said he didn’t think Elon Musk’s viral gesture to the crowd at a Monday celebration of President Trump was offensive, after it drew comparisons on social media to a Nazi salute. “I think it was an awkward gesture. I don’t think it was intended to be a fascist salute,” Greenblatt said in an interview Tuesday, elaborating on the ADL’s statement from Monday.
Well, this week Mr. Greenblatt is having second thoughts.
It’s not so much what he intended. It’s the impact that it had. It’s the way that white nationalists rejoiced at seeing him do this. It’s the way that literal neo-Nazis were applauding online and he failed to push back on that. He failed to correct the record. And I think that was a mistake on Elon’s part and I wish we’d called it out more clearly when it happened.
I guess it’s okay to notice these things now that Elon is no longer Donald Trump’s pet.
Look, the ADL’s job is to protect Jews and right now, we have a transactional man attempting to push America into authoritarianism. Greenblatt probably thinks the best way to protect American Jews in this moment is to convince the president of the United States that you’re on his side.
That might even be true in the short run. But in the long run?
I dunno, man. Maybe it will be possible to triangulate and stay on the side of Trumpist Republicans while being opposed to rising neo-Nazism/Christian nationalism. But that’s placing an awfully large bet against the convergence of those forces.
Which brings us to Grok: This week Elon Musk’s AI client went full-Nazi.
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But it was only yesterday that people figured out why Grok went full-Nazi. And it’s some real Book of Genesis stuff. ...