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These days, Elon Musk is making headlines every single day. Whether it is for something he does with DOGE, a speech he makes, when he attempts to buy other major companies, or even just because of his proximity to President Donald Trump.
Musk, the richest man in the world, seems to also have the ear of the most powerful man in the world: the American President. In an unprecedented move, Donald Trump has allowed Elon Musk not just to form DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) but has decided to give them more power as of last week.
The decision has left a sour taste in many mouths, including mine. Musk is a figure who has historically been embroiled in a lot of controversy. And some of his recent antics are a major cause for concern.
At an event to celebrate Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony, Elon Musk gave a speech that made headlines globally. And it was not the content of the speech itself that had people talking but a gesture that Musk did which raised eyebrows from the entire world.
Musk, had his right hand over his heart and then raised the same arm in the air, in what resembled a Nazi salute. Since then, Musk has firmly claimed that this was not his intention. He posted to his platform, X, and wrote, “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.”
But honestly, not everyone bought his explanation. The fact that he was able to walk past this incident like it was nothing and actually tried to shift the blame on those who were worried was astonishing. A man with so much power and influence over the world right now should not have such a blasé attitude towards his actions being likened to those of a Nazi.
But this is not the first time Musk has been embroiled in controversy, and knowing his hunger for attention, it probably will not be the last. Before things became so politically tinged for Musk, he often made headlines for his personal life.
His trans daughter, Vivian Jenna Wilson, went on the record last year to tell the world that her father was an absentee dad who was cruel to her for being queer and feminine when she was a child.
Musk had said that he had been tricked into authorizing gender-affirming care for her when she was 16 years old. To him, he said, she was figuratively ‘dead,’ a horrible thing to say about your child to your public audience of millions.
Now 21 years old, Vivian is not backing down without a fight and, in an interview, said that Musk was lying as while he had been hesitant, he fully understood what trans-related medical procedures he was signing off for her as her parent. “I think he was under the assumption that I wasn’t going to say anything and I would just let this go unchallenged. Which I’m not going to do, because if you’re going to lie about me, like, blatantly to an audience of millions, I’m not just gonna let that slide,” she said.
