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Elon Musk recently came under fire after sharing an image of a Nazi soldier as a joke. In the published post, the new Twitter owner joked about the progress of technology and its effect on netizens, which Twitterati did not find amusing.
The billionaire tweeted a black and white picture of a soldier carrying a cage containing carrier pigeons. The picture read- “3 unread messages,” along with a red notification badge superimposed on the bird cage as if it was a smartphone app, showing the number "3."
Critics of Elon Musk were quick to note that the image was that of a Nazi soldier, known as the "Wehrmacht." The army men wore the uniform during the invasion of France in May 1940. When the image was searched on Getty Images, it came up described as:
“German Wehrmacht Soldier With Carrier Pigeons”
In two other separate posts, the Tesla founder tweeted “Back when birds were real” and “But if Twitter is bird, that’s means…”
Netizens slam Elon Musk for tweeting an image of a Nazi solider
Many internet users expressed concern over Musk’s recent tweet. While some noted that the soldier in the image was wearing a Nazi uniform, others wondered if Musk intentionally chose an image of a Nazi solider.
Check out some of these tweets below:
Mathias Richel, a German political communications expert, responded to Musk's posted image by writing:
Arsen Ostrovsky, the CEO of The International Legal Forum, who has been advocating for Jews and pro-Israel, responded to Musk’s tweet as well. The human rights lawyer requested Musk to “withdraw the image” due to:
“the relentless hate already directed at Jews on this platform, and this week marking 84 years since Kristallnacht.”
Elon Musk's politcal comments raise concern
Elon Musk tweeted the controversial image amidst several high-profile celebrities like Kanye West and NBA player Kyrie Irving making various anti-Semitic remarks.
As the billionaire continued to make disparaging comments, Musk stated that “hardcore” left and right-wingers "never vote for the other side” of their preferred choice. He added:
“So independent voters are the ones who actually decide who’s in charge.”
Musk went on to pin his tweet where he advised his followers to vote for Republican candidates. His tweet read:
“To independent-minded viters: Shared power curbs the worst excesses of both parties, therefore I recommend voting for a Republican Congress, given that the Presidency is Democratic.”
Musk also revealed that his voting history has been leaning towards the Democrats “until this year,” however, he is “open to the idea of voting Democrat again in the future.”
Elon Musk has been amassing a soaring backlash since his October 27 Twitter takeover. He fired several prominent executives and promised to lay off half of the company’s employees, which was expectedly not taken well.
The entrepreneur has also since announced that he will be charging $8 per month for an account’s verification, which was met with criticism.
