Sam Kuffel, a Milwaukee-based meteorologist, was removed from her position at WDJT-TV (Channel 58) after posting on social media attacking billionaire and political figure Elon Musk following his performance of a controversial salute during Trump’s inauguration. According to JSOnline, Kuffel posted multiple times calling out Musk and his actions and was promptly fired after spending five years at WDJT-TV.
Musk was a major figure throughout President Trump’s most recent presidential campaign and spent $277 million on Trump and other Republicans’ campaigns, cementing himself as the highest donor by far, according to CBS News. In exchange for his financial support, Musk shared the stage during the campaign, regularly appearing at Trump’s rallies and giving speeches to his followers.
Musk created a storm of controversy at Trump’s inauguration when he made a controversial gesture while giving a speech to Trump’s supporters. During his speech, Musk thanked fans for their political participation, before hitting his left shoulder with his right hand and extending his right arm outward with his hand pointing firmly out. Musk then turned around to the crowd behind him and repeated the gesture, according to the BBC. “My heart goes out to you,” he said. “It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured.”
What followed was an outcry from around the world, as many perceived Musk’s gesture to be a “Roman Salute,” rooted in ancient Roman culture and popularized in the early 20th century, according to Fox5 Washington DC. The gesture was used later in history by supporters of fascist leaders Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler and has since become extremely taboo. According to The Washington Post, if someone in Germany were to do the Roman/Nazi salute in public, they could face up to three years in prison.
To put it bluntly, Kuffel’s firing is a violation of her First Amendment right to free speech. Kuffel stated something millions of people also agreed with — Musk performed a salute that has terrible historical context and the American people have every right to hold him accountable. While employers should have the ability to fire their employees who make horrible statements or do terrible things on social media, denouncing someone and holding them accountable for making a fascist salute does not fall under those categories.
It’s not just Kuffel, either. People across the nation and the world are speaking out, denouncing Musk’s salute. In particular, there has been significant outrage in countries with former fascist leaders, such as Italy and Germany. Michel Friedman, a well-known German-French publicist and former deputy chair of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, was outraged by Musk’s actions. Friedman’s ancestors were Polish Jews, many of whom died during the Holocaust. He stated that Musk had clearly performed the Nazi “Heil Hitler” salute, despite attempts by Musk and other Republicans to downplay it, according to The Guardian.
“I thought to myself, the breaking of taboos is reaching a point that is dangerous for the entire free world,” Friedman commented. “The brutalization, the dehumanization, Auschwitz, all of that is Hitler. A mass murderer, a warmonger, a person for whom people were nothing more than numbers fair game, not worth mentioning.”
Furthering the controversy, on January 25th, Musk appeared virtually at a political rally for the German political party Alternative für Deutschland party. Just days after Musk performed his controversial salute, he spoke to several thousand attendees at the rally for the far-right party, speaking about German pride and how children should not be guilty of sins perpetrated by ancestors, according to NPR.
If Musk truly had made a mistake and did not intend to Nazi salute at Trump’s inauguration, he would have distanced himself from far-right politics and especially a far-right party that has surged in power recently in Germany. But, Musk has not issued any sort of apology and has only perpetuated the controversy. His attendance at the AfD rally shows his true intentions.
Kuffel expressed her outrage about Musk’s actions, just as countless others around the world did and she ultimately lost her job just for standing up and speaking out against an unacceptable gesture done by an extremely influential person. Her firing is a clear-cut example of her First Amendment being violated. Since Kuffel was fired, numerous petitions have been circulating on the internet demanding her reinstatement. The largest petition on Move On has amassed over 43,000 signatures so far, cementing the idea that she is not alone and that her termination is not the end of Musk’s criticism.
