Elon Musk goes full Pepe, tweeting frog image ADL says is used by alt right
Billionaire twitter owner Elon Musk tweeted an image Monday morning which drew condemnation from an antisemitism watch group and social media users due to its known association with white supremacist figures and organizations.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 28, 2022
“This meme has become the go to of white supremacists like Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes. Please do not propagate its usage,” the official account for StopAntisemitism tweeted in response.
This meme has become the go to of white supremacists like Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes. Please do not propagate its usage.
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) November 28, 2022
Musk’s tweet, sent just before 6 a.m. Monday morning, featured a cartoon character known as Pepe the Frog, a symbol the Anti-Defamation League says on their website has been adopted by online members of the so-called alt right community for use in antisemic messaging, along with the text “honestly, I don’t care about this particular psyop.”
According to the ADL, the Pepe cartoon originated in 2005 in a web cartoon called “Boy’s Club” and was not originally — or even presently, under particular use — meant to be antisemetic.
“The majority of uses of Pepe the Frog have been, and continue to be, non-bigoted. However, it was inevitable that, as the meme proliferated in on-line venues such as 4chan, 8chan, and Reddit, which have many users who delight in creating racist memes and imagery, a subset of Pepe memes would come into existence that centered on racist, anti-Semitic or other bigoted themes,” the ADL says in explaining Pepe’s use by the alt right.
The ADL includes the frog image among their list of known hate symbols, along with imagery like the swashtika of the Nazi regime, where they say use of it as a metaphor for antisemitism has increased.
“In recent years, with the growth of the “alt right” segment of the white supremacist movement, a segment that draws some of its support from some of the above-mentioned Internet sites, the number of “alt right” Pepe memes has grown, a tendency exacerbated by the controversial and contentious 2016 presidential election. Though Pepe memes have many defenders, the use of racist and bigoted versions of Pepe memes seems to be increasing, not decreasing,” they say.
Many users of Twitter were not amused by Musk’s use of the Pepe meme.
“Just put a swastika as your profile pic already,” Colorado Rep. Stephen Woodrow said in reply before 11 a.m.
Just put a swastika as your profile pic already.
— Rep. Steven Woodrow (@WoodrowForCO) November 28, 2022
“Trying out Pepe the Frog?” Immigration lawyer David Leopold asked, linking to the ADL’s page on the cartoon.
Trying out Pepe the Frog @elonmusk? https://t.co/ieWVKL9Mhm
— David Leopold (@DavidLeopold) November 28, 2022
And there it is.
The veil has totally lifted.
Elon has gone full alt-right, 4chan, white power, Pepe the Frog hate symbolism.
We all knew it…but now have the receipts to back it up
— HNDRX (@TheHndrx) November 28, 2022
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/RKhS6jr
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