Elon Musk Scorched for Tweet With Nazi Soldier Image: ‘He’s Exactly What We Thought He Was’
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Amid the Twitter verification brouhaha and suspensions of verified users who changed their name to “Elon Musk,” the platform’s new billionaire owner drew more fire Monday for sharing an image of a Nazi soldier.
In the photo, a WWII-era German Wehrmacht soldier has three carrier pigeons in a cage on his back; the text “3 UNREAD MESSAGES” has been added to the photo. Musk’s own caption, “How times have changed,” was innocuous enough, but the fact he chose an image of a member of Hitler’s Army to spread his message is not.
Democratic strategist Adam Parkhomenko tweeted, “Wait. Elon endorsed Republicans AND shared a picture of a Nazi soldier? So he’s exactly what we thought he was.”
How times have changed pic.twitter.com/gCxUkZ4kZC
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 7, 2022
Others shared the archival photo’s listing on Getty Images, which confirms the image’s origins. “A German Wehrmacht soldier carries a cage of carrier pigeons used for relaying messages, on the Western front during the German invasion of France, known as the Battle of France, in WWII, circa May 1940,” reads the Getty caption.
It comes with this note on Getty: “Please note: images depicting historical events may contain themes, or have descriptions, that do not reflect current understanding. They are provided in a historical context.”
Some floated the theory that Musk simply shared the image without being aware of its context. ‘”It’s easy to read this as “Elon Musk keeps posting Nazi s—” but I think the actual story is that because he loves stealing posts form his replies, there are a bunch of people trying to get him to post Nazi s— and succeeding because he’s easily manipulated. Seems worse!” tweeted Cooper Lund.
Although the photo does not include Nazi insignia, the helmet worn by the soldier appears to be a Stahlhelm, which was part of the Germany army’s uniform.
Musk has already been blasted for his refusal to moderate ethnic and racial failures on the platform, as well as blatantly pro-Nazi tweets.
Read a roundup of more Twitter responses to Musk’s latest misstep below.
The Getty caption for this photo of a Nazi: "A German Wehrmacht soldier carries a cage of carrier pigeons used for relaying messages, on the western front during the German invasion of France, known as the Battle of France, in WWII, circa May 1940." https://t.co/u35qwBakoh https://t.co/FVHN9JqKvi
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) November 7, 2022
It’s confirmed. Elon Musk just tweeted an image of a Nazi. https://t.co/Gs5g6C7nWS pic.twitter.com/0qx3azgswW
— John Aravosis
(@aravosis) November 7, 2022
Wait.
Elon endorsed Republicans AND shared a picture of a Nazi soldier?
So he’s exactly what we thought he was.— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) November 7, 2022
Good morning, I am noted billionaire spaceman Elon Musk. I will now tweet a picture of a Nazi. Hahahahaha. Isn't that funny. I will now use the social media platform I bought to encourage people to vote for Republicans Hahahaha. I am a disrupter! I am cool. Everyone look at me!!
— Rex Huppke (@RexHuppke) November 7, 2022
Elon Musk is telling people to vote for Republicans and posting Nazi images.
Yeah, this is going well.— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) November 7, 2022
Elon Musk just posted a Nazi soldier meme while saying “times have changed” about sending messages — then 30 minutes later told people to vote Republican.
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) November 7, 2022
Two days running @elonmusk has tweeted memes with a Nazi quote or image pic.twitter.com/AAkxXwA7jm
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) November 7, 2022
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