Towamencin Supervisor Resigns After Elon Musk-Like Hand Gesture

TOWAMENCIN, PA — The embattled Towamencin Township supervisor who made a video giving a hand gesture similar to Elon Musk's has submitted her resignation, the board announced Tuesday.

Supervisor Laura Smith, who served as the vice chair of the board, posted the video on TikTok.

"Just checking in on my friends who are struggling this week," she said in the video, grinning broadly and placing her hand on her chest. "My heart goes out to you, hope you're doing okay."

She then threw her arm straight out in an imitation of Musk's gesture, which has been widely compared to the Nazi salute.

Smith said she did not believe that Musk's gesture was Nazi, and in a comment reply on the since deleted post, added that her video was meant to "poke fun at the absurdity" of the situation.

Groups around the globe expressed concerns about Musk's gesture, especially as he has spoken at alt-right rallies in Germany in recent months and expressed support for alt-right leaders whose supporters are, in the very least, sympathetic to white nationalists.

While President Trump and Musk himself have positioned themselves as the friends of the Jewish people and Israel's right wing government, the reality is that their administration has broad appeal and Neo-Nazi groups have mobilized in response to the power shift, according to multiple media reports in The Guardian and Wired.

Smith's fellow Towamencin board member Christian Fusco responded sharply to the incident.

"She believes it is cute to make Nazi jokes," he said. "We need as a society to draw some lines in the sand. Let’s start with holding people accountable for trying to normalize Nazism. To make matters worse, she appears to excuse Elon Musk’s Nazi salute to autism. This is unacceptable. There is no place for this kind of 'humor' and I encourage all Towamencin residents to come out and express their concerns over this abhorrent behavior."

Smith insisted the video had been "greatly mischaracterized."

"I abhor racism, anti-Semitic or discrimination in any fashion or form and my record as a township supervisor attests to my commitment to treat all people with dignity and respect," she said. "To allow the Township to move forward without the encumbrance of the fallout of my video, I tender my resignation from the Towamencin Township Board of Supervisors effective immediately."

In a statement, the Towamencin Board said they would accept her resignation formally at their upcoming public meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 4.