A Michigan priest was relieved of his duties after giving what appeared to be a Nazi salute inspired by Elon Musk at a political rally last week.
The Anglican Catholic Church condemned Father Calvin Robinson for making “a gesture that many have interpreted as a pro-Nazi salute” at the end of an address to an anti-abortion, right-wing contingent in Washington, D.C.
“While we cannot say what was in Mr. Robinson’s heart when he did this, his action appears to have been an attempt to curry favor with certain elements of the American political right by provoking its opposition,” the church wrote in a statement on its website Wednesday.
Robinson, who’s originally from the United Kingdom, had previously been warned about participating in online trolling and was reportedly told to stop engaging in such provocative behavior.
“Clearly, he has not, and as such, his license in this Church has been revoked. He is no longer serving as a priest in the ACC,” the church said, adding that mimicking the Nazi salute is “harmful, divisive, and contrary to the tenets of Christian charity.”
Robinson responded to being defrocked by insisting he’s not a Nazi and boasting the speech he delivered to his audience in D.C. was well-received.
“The joke at the end was a mockery of the hysterical ‘liberals’ who called Elon Musk a Nazi for quite clearly showing the audience his heart was with them,” Robinson wrote on X.
He said he’ll accept the consequences of his actions because people who share his ideology are protected by the “full armour of God.”
Musk meanwhile — known to dabble in suggestive and often juvenile humor on his social media platform — insisted the gesture he gave during a speech following Trump’s inauguration wasn’t an homage to Adolf Hitler’s far-right movement.
But days later, he appeared in a short video played at a rally for Germany’s ultra-conservative AfD Party, where he told supporters to be proud of their German past.