Steve Bannon has become the latest high profile political figure to give a fascist salute, with this one coming during the increasingly extreme CPAC convention.
I suspect that if a decade ago, you told someone that we would be having a debate on whether or not this is acceptable, you would have been met with incredulity, yet here we are. Of course, it all originated from Elon Musk. And if this had been an isolated incident, followed by a swift apology, then I could probably accept it. Perhaps I am being generous, but I honestly don’t believe Musk deliberately gave that salute – I believe he is a physically awkward individual who got carried away and performed a gesture that is, unfortunately, pretty much an exact replica of a fascist salute. Any reasonable person, on having this pointed out to them, would apologise immediately and pledge to be more careful in future.
But Musk, who seems determined to build his entire public persona around trolling his political foes (and I use the word ‘trolling’ very deliberately – most of his views are derived from internet memes and viral content with scant regard for factual accuracy), is not a reasonable person. Instead, he gave the impression of finding the furore it caused rather funny. In a more sensible political age, his supporters would have been keen not to shine a light on this most injudicious of actions, but we are so politically polarised now that they felt they had to not just back him but copy him. It reminds me of one of the very few true statements to have been uttered by Donald Trump – that he could “stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and (he) wouldn’t lose any voters”. Although ostensibly joking, there was sadly more truth in this than perhaps even he realised. The same is now broadly true of Elon Musk.
What has happened since then is altogether more sinister. Both Calvin Robinson and Steve Bannon have now performed this exact motion during speeches, and been applauded wildly for doing so. Here, the intention is different. Again, I don’t believe that this means they are Nazis. But they are performing Nazi salutes in public and being cheered for it. It is, at best, showing an utterly callous disregard for the victims of fascism in order to get a rise out of the left. At worst, it is giving the green light to the far right worldwide. By performing this salute, they are saying that it is OK to do it in public. I have no doubt that we will see the far right marching through our streets and giving Nazi salutes, claiming that they are simply referring to ‘my heart goes out to you’. It is a chilling thought. My thoughts turn to my Jewish grandmother, watching the Battle of Cable Street from her bedroom window at the age of 7, when people of all races and creeds said no to fascists marching through the streets of London, and I wonder if we would be prepared to make the same stand today.
There are those who argue that by getting enraged about this simply gives the Musks, Bannons and Robinsons of this world what they want. They love to bait the left, and they love it even more when we rise to it. But we cannot afford to let this behaviour become normalised. Thankfully, Robinson lost his job over his display of the salute, with wise words used by the church to back up their decision:
We believe that those who mimic the Nazi salute, even as a joke or an attempt to troll their opponents, trivialize the horror of the Holocaust and diminish the sacrifice of those who fought against its perpetrators.
Of course, he attempted to portray this as an attack by the woke left to impinge on his freedom of speech, but this is complete nonsense (and I have written before for this website about my queasiness regarding people being persecuted for saying dreadful things). Of course it is reasonable for a church to draw a line at its own priests giving Nazi salutes at political rallies. That would rightly cause you to lose almost any job.
Anyone who deliberately gives a fascist salute to whip up a crowd should be ostracised. I despair at a political climate in which that is seen as a debatable, or even controversial, statement.
* David Gray is a musician, actor and writer based in Birmingham. He is a a co-director of Keep Streets Live
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7 Comments
All a British government can do about such people is put a lifetime ban on them from entering the UK and – possibly (ideally probably) – ban their companies (or companies they are associated with) from exporting to the U.K. and trading with U.K. companies.
If you’re at an event where someone makes a gesture like that and isn’t immediately bundled out by security, you’re probably at a fascist event. End of.
And Liz Truss and Nigel Farage were active participants in the CPAC conference. Jordan Bardella, a leading member of the Front National in France, withdrew from speaking in protest at the increasingly wild gestures on display. But neither Truss nor Farage have done so, nor so far as we know have they yet expressed any hint of disapproval…
“If you’re at an event where someone makes a gesture like that and isn’t immediately bundled out by security, you’re probably at a fascist event. End of.”
Seconded
Firstly, we need to stop using the words ‘Nazi’ and ‘Fascist’. These words have no cut-through any more. I saw somebody on YouTube refer to it as a ‘Hitler Salute’ the other day. That might work, Hitler is still reviled.
Secondly, the political centre needs to find a charismatic figurehead, an Obama, Clinton (or even a Blair) who can push back against the far right. Remember that what we are after (and currently losing) is the politically non-engaged voters, who flock to a Trump, a Musk or a Farage because they have large, dynamic personalities.
Thirdly, exploit their weaknesses. Use their methods back against them. Hillary Clinton lost because she tried to claim the moral high ground against Trump, rather than showing him up to be unstable and totally unfit to lead.
William Wallace – good point. Truss and Farage are now seemingly to the right of the FN/RN and I don’t think they’re able/willing to find a way back or criticise any of the people they’ve got into bed with.
David Irving – I’m not sure about this. Agree to a point, and the term Nazi/fascist has undoubtedly been thrown around too readily by many. But when they are literally performing Nazi/fascist salutes, I think we have to call a spade a spade. Though I accept that part of the reason why this doesn’t have cut through probably is the trend of overusing it.
Broadly agree with your analysis of the future of the centre. I think we’ve generally missed a trick by not swinging behind some of the more left of centre economic policies that have gained traction across the political spectrum (Reform arguing for the income tax threshold to be raised to 18k for example, though their plan for paying for that was always thinner than tracing paper)
I agree that the words “fascist and Nazi” have been too readily used out of context – police breaking up a fight being called “Fascist!” by a drunken participant or a Traffic Warden being called “Nazi” by someone getting a ticket and there are other examples. They have become shorthand responses from people who I suspect have never assimilated the horrors associated with the originals. At my age, I remember well all the information emerging from WW2. Even as a young schoolboy the reality was always there staring us in the face. However, despite their oftimes hackneyed usage, such words are bound to be used because the population at large need some hooks on which to hang their attempts to understand what is happening today. I fear such words as “extreme right wing” do little to relate to the very real threat of extreme dominance by certain parties. Indeed, even those three words appear to be bandied around amongst Joe Public.
I agree with David Gray who, I think, is right that we have to call a spade a spade and that we must call out any manifestation of abhorrent extremism in the name of political interaction. To do this, it seems sensible to remind folk as to what such terms really mean and to quote one of the more recent cliches “Tell it like it is!”