GOP pundit Scott Jennings kept his arm by his side Monday when he was challenged on CNN to mimic Elon Musk’s Nazi-like salute from Inauguration Day. (Watch the video below.)
The Washington Post’s issuer of that dare, Catherine Rampell, repeatedly goaded Jennings to act out the gesture to prove it was as harmless as he claimed.
The billionaire tech mogul made the arm gesture last week during a celebration for President Donald Trump at Capital One Arena in Washington.
Over the weekend, Musk told the far-right Alternative for Germany party that the country has “too much of a focus on past guilt” ― presumably the burden of its Nazi history. His remarks a few days before the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp on Monday put his awkward arm thrust back on the table during Abby Phillip’s “NewsNight.”
It wasn’t the first time that Musk perpetuated the controversy in some way. After the Anti-Defamation League and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave him a pass, he posted a bunch of Nazi jokes on X, the social platform he owns formerly known as Twitter.
“I don’t understand why this guy keeps getting the benefit of the doubt,” Rampell said of antisemitism accusations against Musk. Jennings said Musk’s awkward arm salute was merely “expressing enthusiastically his appreciation for the crowd.”
“Why don’t you do it on TV right now?” Rampell said. “Why don’t you do it on TV right now if you think it’s so, so banal.”
Jennings didn’t bite.
After more verbal sparring, Jennings added, “This salute trutherism is outrageous.”
Rampell, who is Jewish, pressed further. “So do it right now on TV. If you think it’s normal, if you think it’s a normal way to greet people, do it right now on TV. Why won’t you?”
Jennings again demurred.
It’s his job to serve the network as a conservative “heel,” in pro wrestling parlance. This time he got pinned.