With another CPAC speaker also mimicking Musk’s salute, which has sparked additional copycats across the right-wing ecosphere, a far-right French political leader canceled his speech at the right-wing confab “one of the speakers provocatively made a gesture referring to Nazi ideology.” At the same time, actual neo-Nazis felt that Bannon’s attempt at provocation was a “little excessive” and just an attempt to draw a reaction.
Comedian and CNN host W. Kamau Bell noted that while Steve Bannon may have been “playing footsie with Nazism” with his straight-armed salute at CPAC, the former Trump strategist didn’t need to because “we already knew Steve Bannon was on the side of Nazis.”.
But he sort of did in a way that was sort of plausible deniability.”Noting that “intelligent humans” know “there are words we don‘t say in front of mixed company because they sound like slurs” and “because we know we shouldn’t,” Bell said that Bannon just dispensed with any subtext during his CPAC speech.
During last week’s CPAC event, Bannon appeared to replicate the “Roman salute” that “first buddy” Elon Musk – whom Bannon has been intensely feuding with – emphatically threw out during his Inauguration Day speech.
Bell, who hosts the CNN series United Shades of America, was asked on Monday to weigh in on Bannon’s CPAC gesture and the growing trend of conservative figures seemingly embracing Nazi salutes and rhetoric.
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