Elon Musk has been criticised by the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum for comparing the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, to Adolf Hitler.
The chief executive of Tesla tweeted a meme that showed a photo of Hitler with the words “Stop comparing me to Justin Trudeau” above the image and “I had a budget” below. The tweet was later deleted.
Musk’s use of Hitler’s image “disrespects the memory of all victims and hurts many people”, said the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum, which is on the site of the Nazi concentrate camp where 960,000 people were killed.
“Using the image of Adolf Hitler & therefore exploiting the tragedy of all people who suffered, were humiliated, tortured & murdered by the totalitarian regime of Nazi Germany created by him is sad & disturbing,” the museum tweeted in reply to Musk.
The American Jewish Committee said the billionaire’s tweet was unacceptable and demanded he apologise. “Once again, Elon Musk has exercised extremely poor judgment by invoking Hitler to make a point on social media. He must stop this unacceptable behaviour,” it said.
“Musk may believe posting a meme comparing Justin Trudeau to a genocidal dictator who exterminated millions is an appropriate way to criticise policies he disagrees with. It is not. It never is. Musk must apologise and find other ways to voice his displeasure.” » | Rupert Neate, Wealth correspondent | Thursday, February 17, 2022
