this post was submitted on 25 Jan 2025
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The mainstream press failed to accurately describe the hand gesture that Elon Musk made twice at Trump’s Inauguration Day rally, setting a troubling precedent for the second Trump era.

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[–] [email protected] 59 points 1 week ago (4 children)

It is a fun activity to think of legal standards here. Of course we don't know what he was thinking for sure, and we never will, just like everyone else in the world every day of our lives. But we can and do judge people by their actions... In other words, where do people want to put this Nazi salute? What is their certainty about his action? Below are the legal standards.

  • Reasonable suspicion
  • Probable cause
  • Preponderance of evidence (more likely than not)
  • Clear and convincing
  • Proof beyond a reasonable doubt

Where would you rank the Nazi salute conclusion? I think proof beyond reasonable doubt, and perhaps we could reasonably debate claims that it's a level or two weaker than that. But the deniers, they want to say there's not even reasonable suspicion, and that is a sad joke.

[–] AstridWipenaugh 18 points 1 week ago

It was a Nazi salute without a doubt. The only question is if it was accidental or intentional. Musk being a far-right operative and making a bunch of Nazi puns as his response instead of an apology for the misunderstanding makes it clear it was not an accident.

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