As a biographer of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini and thus possessed of a certain expertise in the matter I want to add my thoughts about Elon Musk’s bizarre raised right arm salute.
Many on the left, including historians who ought to know better, say that the gesture delivered with such passion at the rally in Washington for the party faithful after Trump’s inauguration was a fascist or Nazi salute.
If Musk had made such a gesture in front of the Duce, he would have been instantly banished to the beautiful Tremiti Islands off the coast of Puglia along with the gays
But not just on the left. Even alt-right Steve Bannon’s Rome-based international editor Ben Harnwell – like his boss a sworn enemy of all things left-wing – has joined the howls of protest in unholy alliance.
Bannon was the architect of Trump’s 2016 presidential victory but is now in exile, with a popular podcast, The War Room.
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