Nicolas Conquer Travels Overseas to Attend Trump's DC Inauguration, Witnesses Musk's "Nazi Salute"

In his article for the Causeur monthly, Ce que j’ai vu à Washington (What I Saw in Washington), Nicolas Conquer recounts, as the title indicates, his week in the DC area after traveling from France across the Atlantic Ocean to witness the inauguration of Donald Trump.

A French member of Republicans Overseas France (ROF) with a great last name, Nicolas Conquer had adventures aplenty, visiting Mount Vernon (as George and Martha's home prepares for the nation's 250th anniversary), paying his respects at Arlington, and exercising his « god-given rights » by shooting guns with a son of Nicolas Sarkozy.

But Nicolas Conquer was also present at Capitol One to watch the Village People and to witness (cough) Musk's Nazi Salute:

J’attends trois heures dans la file d’attente aux côtés d’un juif ultra-orthodoxe, de sa femme et leur nouveau-né. On regarde ensemble la prestation de Musk, et son geste décrit comme un simulacre de salut nazi. Au moment où il tend son bras vers la foule pour lui offrir « tout son cœur », il n’y a pourtant aucune réaction dans la foule. Pas davantage chez mon interlocuteur qui aurait pu se sentir blessé. Un calme précaire toutefois : je connais le monde médiatique, je sais comment ce geste sera interprété. L’indignation ne tarde jamais.

"I spend three hours waiting in line alongside an ultra-Orthodox Jew, his wife, and their newborn baby. We watch Musk’s performance together, along with his gesture described as a recreation of the Nazi salute. When he extends his arm to the crowd to offer them “all his heart”, however, there is no reaction in the crowd. Certainly not from my neighbor who could have felt shocked. 'Tis but a precarious calm, however: I know the media world, I know how this gesture will be interpreted. Indignation is never long in coming."