The video appeared to mimic Elon Musk, whose gesture during President Donald Trump‘s inauguration was widely interpreted as a Nazi salute.
In the video, Smith addressed the camera, saying, ‘Just checking in on my friends who are struggling this week,’ before tapping her chest three times and extending her arm straight out with her palm down. She concluded with the statement, ‘My heart goes out to you.’
Following mounting backlash, Smith made her TikTok account private and resigned from her position on Sunday.
In her resignation letter to the board, Smith wrote: ‘To allow the Township to move forward without the encumbrance of the fallout of my video, I tender my resignation from the Towamencin Township Board of Supervisors effective immediately.’
The board announced its intention to accept her resignation at a public meeting, issuing a statement that read, ‘The Board of Supervisors cannot and will not tolerate such conduct.’
Smith also released a statement defending her actions, saying, ‘A video I posted recently to social media has been greatly mischaracterized.
‘Not wishing to give offense, I removed the video from my accounts.
Laura Smith, a member of the Towamencin Township Board of Supervisors in Pennsylvania , sparked outrage after sharing a TikTok video in which she performed a Nazi salute
The video appeared to mock Elon Musk , whose gesture during Donald Trump ‘s inauguration was widely interpreted as a Nazi salute
‘I abhor racism, antisemitism, or discrimination in any fashion or form, and my record as a township supervisor attests to my commitment to treat all people with dignity and respect.’
Musk has since defended the gesture he made the day of Trump’s inauguration, all while referencing names of high-ranking Nazi officials from World War II.
In a post to his X account on Thursday, Musk joked about Adolf Hitler’s Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess, Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels, Reichstag President Hermann Göring, and SS Commander Heinrich Himmler. He also took aim at progressive use of preferred pronouns, writing:
‘Don’t say Hess to Nazi accusations! Some people will Goebbels anything down! Stop Gőring your enemies! His pronouns would’ve been He/Himmler!’ Musk added, ‘Bet you did nazi that coming.’
The post quickly sparked outrage among, with many criticizing the gesture Musk made, where he placed his hand over his heart and then extended it to wave to the crowd at Capital One Arena.
On the other side of the aisle, other Z users dismissed the backlash as overblown.
Even Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu weighed in, supporting Musk in an X post on Thursday: ‘Elon is being falsely smeared. He is a great friend of Israel.’ Netanyahu highlighted Musk’s visit to Israel following the October 7 Hamas attack and commended him for his consistent support of Israel’s right to defend itself.
Musk’s father, Errol Musk, also defended his son during an interview with NewsNation host Chris Cuomo.
He used the names to issue a series of puns in a post to X on Thursday, concluding: ‘Bet you did nazi that coming’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also came to Musk’s defense on Thursday, claiming he is a ‘great friend of Israel’ and saying liberals are ‘falsely smearing’ the billionaire
‘It’s absolute nonsense, absolute rubbish,’ he said of the accusations. ‘It’s a universal salute, or, as you said, throwing his heart out. That’s a universal thing for thousands of years.’
Musk, meanwhile, accused liberals of hypocrisy in their criticism, claiming they were simultaneously supporting Hamas while condemning him.
‘The radical leftists are really upset that they had to take time out of their busy day praising Hamas to call me a Nazi,’ he wrote on X.
The controversy unfolds amid ongoing tensions following the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, which marked the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
While Israel and Hamas recently reached a ceasefire agreement that included the release of hostages, debates over the conflict continue to polarize global audiences.
Trump and many Republican politicians have been vocal supporters of Israel, with the former president moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem during his first term and helping broker the Abraham Accords to strengthen ties between Israel and its neighboring nations.
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