The Elon Musk Salute Hoax marches on, with all manner of Resistance Media types falling over themselves to be seen as being on “the right side” of the Nazi salute that wasn’t. In the most recent instance, New York Times reporter Lulú García-Navarro hilariously gets called a “Salute Truther” by CNN commentator Scott Jennings.
Watch as Jennings treats García-Navarro’s goofy evocation of the Salute Hoax with the scorn it so richly deserves (click "expand" to view transcript):
.@ScottJenningsKY clowns NYT journalist who tried to resuscitate the Salute Hoax: "What are you, a salute truther? pic.twitter.com/upCQUZYKOM
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) January 23, 2025
CNN THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS
1/23/25
9:23 PM
SCOTT JENNINGS: I think the overall impact of Elon Musk on the Trump orbit has been really good, and his impact on the country is- is really good. So I don't know how this is going to turn out. I know these kinds of announcements are important to presidents. These kinds of investments are important to new administrations. But, you know, I would listen to Elon. I mean, he's obviously got some information and some opinions about this. And I don't know how much of this is going to be aired in front of and behind the scenes, but I would listen to him.
LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO: But Elon Musk keeps on overshadowing Donald Trump. I mean, you had in the inauguration, then it was the hand gesture: quote, unquote, um- that is the subject of great mystery and debate.
JENNINGS: What hand gesture?
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yeah. The subject of great mystery and debate.
JENNINGS: Are you talking about…? You're not one of these salute truthers, are you?
GARCIA-NAVARRO: No, I-
JENNINGS: LOL
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Oh, is that what we’re calling it now?
JENNINGS: Yes!
GARCIA-NAVARRO: All I’m saying is- is-
JENNINGS: C’mon!
It’s worth noting that the conversation was intended to be about the rift between Elon Musk and OpenAI’s Sam Altman, which spilled out subsequent to President Donald Trump’s announcement of the Stargate project along with Altman, Larry Ellison, and the CEO of SoftBank, Masayoshi Son. Jennings stayed on task and delivered his take.
It was then that García-Navarro, who once suggested that university pro-Hamas supporters are “sort of representatives of the oppressed”, decided she was going to try to be clever by bringing the Salute Hoax into the conversation. Needless to say, it didn’t work.
She began her take by talking about how Elon “overshadows” Trump, and then attempting to infer Nazi without saying “Nazi”. Whereas Erin Burnett and Kasie Hunt went on a whole historical ramble, García-Navarro over enunciated “hand gesture” and said “quote, unquote” while doing air quotes. Between this and the former, I’m convinced that the deliberate avoidance of the word “Nazi” is a defamation lawsuit mitigation strategy, totally understandable given recent events.
The key to this exchange is Jennings cutting in with “what hand gesture?”, which put García-Navarro on the defensive and moved her off of her talking point set pieces. It is at that point that Jennings asks her whether she is a “salute truther”. Game over.
A recent Daily Caller profile of Jennings cast him in the mold of a wrestling villain, a “heel” to the liberal media, comparing his recent CNN run to Dwayne Johnson’s “Final Boss Rock”. But that might end up being his floor, as Jennings continues to string together a run that is now more comparable to that of The Iron Sheik.
