Debunked in the sense that, one, what the perception was did not match his intention

Intentions do not exist outside someone’s head. You cannot reliably know someone else’s intentions. You cannot use intentions to conclude or debunk anything.

I remember when I was little and Pokémon came out with the character Registeel and the sprite had to be changed because the pose they chose for the creature just happened to resemble a Nazi salute.

The difference is context. Registeel’s raised arm:

• Who: a game company that typically tries to stay clear of controversial topics.
• Whom: the game is geared towards a Japanese audience. Even a rising Sun flag would convey better right-wing ideologies to that audience.
• What else is around it: Registeel is found inside a fucking cave dammit. And there’s nothing else in either the pokemon’s description or the environment that would even remotely reinforce that you should read its raised arm as a Nazi salute. Plus GF silently lowered Registeel’s arm in the following games.

In the meantime, Musk’s gesture:

• Who: a public figure known for babbling inane conspiracy theories, anti-Semitic views, transphobic views, etc.
• Whom: to people cheering a freshly elected Trump. Among them, plenty Nazi.
• What else is around it: Musk does a bunch of Nazi jokes that only reinforce that his salute should be understood as a Nazi salute from a Nazi saluting Nazi.

While I think that it’s important to keep witch hunting at bay, sometimes you need to call a duck a “duck”, or a nazi salute “Nazi salute”.

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I think that Lenny is simply clueless though. I don’t think that she’s actively defending that muppet.