News / Politics
Carla Denyer: ‘We should all be very worried about what might be happening in the USA’
Carla Denyer has responded to allegations that Elon Musk did a Nazi salute at an inaugural event for US president Donald Trump.
“I struggled to see what else it was if it wasn’t a Nazi salute and I think we should all be very worried,” Denyer said.
In a PoliticsJoe interview, the Bristol Central MP and co-leader of the Green Party said: “There’s a saying, ‘when someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time’.
is needed now More than ever
Denyer said: “I think that we need to have our eyes wide open to what might be happening in the US at the moment.
“And I think this is a pivotal moment for the UK government; a pivotal moment for the UK government to decide where it’s going to turn.
“Do we want to cosy up to an authoritarian, potentially fascist, US government?
“Which would undoubtedly put us on the outskirts of Europe even more so.
“Or do we want to turn towards our European neighbours and work with those whom we largely share values and share goals and we can work together for the benefit of people in the UK?”
Responding to the accusations made by Denyer and others, Musk tweeted: “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired”
The Anti-Defamation League has defended the tech billionaire’s “awkward” gesture.
“This is a delicate moment. It’s a new day and yet so many are on edge. Our politics are inflamed, and social media only adds to the anxiety,” the ADL wrote in a post on X, which Musk owns.
“It seems that @elonmusk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge.”
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a history professor at New York University, said: “Historian of fascism here. It was a Nazi salute and a very belligerent one too.”
In her interview with PoliticsJoe, Denyer also said we “should be worried” about the rise in support for Reform, which Musk has previously pledged to fund.
She said: “Unfortunately the rise of the far right is not a uniquely American phenomenon but I still think that the situation in Europe is substantially less bad, and that there are plenty of people and governments that the UK government could and should be working with.
“I think obviously, as co-leader of the Greens, I’m focused on offering the positive positive alternative to people who are rightly frustrated by being let down, feeling rightly that life has got harder over the last 10, 15 years in the UK.
“Many of the people who are voting for Trump in the US and are considering voting for Reform in the UK have often correctly identified some of the problems.
“But then the likes of Farage are offering them solutions that sound promising but are too easy and are about scapegoating the wrong people who are not actually responsible for the mess we’re in.”
Main photo: PoliticsJoe / YouTube
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