Republican politician resigns after copying Elon Musk's 'Nazi' salute in TikTok video

A Republican politician has resigned from her job after a TikTok video copying Elon Musk’s infamous one-armed gesture which was likened by many to a 'Nazi salute'.

Tech billionaire Musk recently shocked the world after making the gesture during President Trump's inauguration ceremony.

Now, Laura Smith, a Pennsylvania politician, has resigned from her job after sharing a video on TikTok in which she mimicked the gesture made by Musk.

In the since-deleted clip, she faced the camera and said: “Just checking in on my friends who are struggling this week.”

Smith then tapped her chest three times and extended her arm straight and into the air in the same way Musk did.

“My heart goes out to you. Hope you’re doing ok,” she said with a smile on her face.

Smith has denied that her gesture was meant in the way it has been interpreted.

She has since resigned from her post as a supervisor of Towamencin Township in Montgomery County, as well as her position on the board of the Montgomery County-Norristown Public Library, following the backlash to the clip.

In a statement to NBC10, Smith said the clip “has been greatly mischaracterized”.

“Not wishing to give offense, I removed the video from my accounts. I abhor racism, anti-Semitic [sic] 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,” she continued.

It comes after Musk dismissed accusations of making a fascist arm movement, claiming it is part of a broader campaign against him. He wrote on Twitter/X: "The 'everyone is Hitler' attack is sooo tired. Frankly, they need better dirty tricks."

The ADL also defended Musk in a post shared to X, stating: “It seems that Elon Musk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge.

“In this moment, all sides should give one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt, and take a breath.”

But in the days following the inauguration, Musk has seemingly attempted to make light of the Nazi accusations by sharing a series of 'jokes' inspired by the names of famous Nazi party members Rudolf Hess, Joseph Goebbels, Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler.

Smith’s resignation comes after a TV meteorologist was fired for condemning Musk’s gesture.

Sign up for our free indy100 weekly newsletter

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings