According to the Global Network, because of the comparison between the Canadian prime minister and Hitler, Tesla CEO Elon Musk in the United States caused a controversy on Twitter.
On Feb. 16, Musk tweeted a picture of Hitler with "Stop comparing me to Justin Trudeau" and "I have a budget" at the bottom. Musk's tweet appears to be supporting Canadian truck drivers who oppose the COVID-19 vaccination injunction.
Musk's tweet was immediately criticized by the Auschwitz Museum, located in a Nazi concentration camp where 960,000 people were once killed. The museum lambasted Musk for using Hitler's images as "disrespecting the memories of all victims and hurting many."
The Auschwitz Museum replied to Musk on Twitter: "The tragedy of exploiting the image of Hitler, and thus of all those who suffered humiliation, torture and murder from the totalitarian regime of Nazi Germany that he created, is sad and disturbing." ”
The American Jewish Council said the billionaire's tweet was unacceptable and demanded an apology. The committee issued a statement saying: "Musk's use of Hitler on social media to express his views is extremely bad and he must stop this unacceptable behavior." ”
"Musk may think that posting a picture that compares Trudeau to a genocidal dictator who slaughtered millions of people is an appropriate way to criticize policies he doesn't approve of," the statement added. But this is not the case, and it will never be the right way to do it. Musk must apologize and find other ways to express his displeasure. ”
Canada's Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, Shang Pengfei, also commented that it was "frankly shocking".
Musk did not respond to comments from the American Jewish Council or the Auschwitz Museum, but posted another tweet advising his Twitter fans to read a book on the economic history of Nazi Germany for an "in-depth explanation."
Musk has more than 74 million followers on Twitter, and although the tweet was subsequently deleted, it still received more than 35,000 likes and more than 9,000 retweets. But Musk's act of comparing Trudeau to Nazi leaders has gone too far for some Twitter users. Some netizens criticized Musk as "really ridiculous! Some netizens also said, "This is just another sad case of money and brainlessness!" Another netizen said: "The injury has been caused, and I will never buy anything related to him." ”
Musk has often publicly expressed his support for Protests by Canadian truck drivers against the restrictions on the epidemic in recent days. Last month, he posted a photo of a long truck line and tweeted: "Canadian truck drivers rule." In another post, he said: "If the Canadian government suppresses peaceful protests, that is a manifestation of fascism." ”
On January 15, the Canadian government announced a new covid-19 regulation requiring truck drivers travelling between Canada and the United States to present a COVID-19 vaccination certificate when entering Canada. Some truck drivers in Canada and the United States immediately expressed strong protest, and then formed a convoy to "march" to Ottawa and enter Ottawa on January 28. These demonstrations led to weeks of traffic jams in the Canadian capital. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on the 14th of this month that the federal government has activated the Emergency Law in response to the truck drivers' protest demonstrations that have been going on for many days.