Advancing Democracy or Fascism?

Unintentional?  Twice?  But he didn't actually say it, did he?

Using the Roman salute, also known as the fascist salute, Elon Musk gestured twice: Heil Trump!  Heil Trump!  The salute was made infamous by Adolf Hitler (former dictator of Nazi Germany), Benito Mussolini (former dictator of fascist Italy) and other former fascist leaders of Europe in the first half of the 20th century.

Elon Musk criticized Wikipedia on his personal social media platform X after he made such a gesture at Trump's inaugural parade at the Capital One Arena on January 20 that was described on his Wikipedia page as “a Nazi salute or fascist salute”.  “‘Since legacy media propaganda is considered a ‘valid’ source by Wikipedia, it naturally simply becomes an extension of legacy media propaganda!’”, he wrote on X.  He continued, “Defund Wikipedia until [the politically positive] balance is restored!”

Are such current political developments in the USA also making fascism acceptable again for Germans and Austrians (see “Wie sich die FPÖ ihre Medienlandschaft vorstellt” and “„Scheißblatt“: Wiener FPÖ-Chef Nepp greift den „Standard“ an”)?  The Austrian far-right FPÖ (Freedon Party of Austria) is currently negotiating with the right-wing intended coalition partner ÖVP (Austrian Peoples’ Party) over the funding and restructuring of public broadcasting and the press in Austria, which also tends to publicly criticize opposing media opinions and commentary.

With the rise of fascism, are political leaders and parties today purposely steering countries towards fascism?  This question arises in light of the recent democracy-threatening actions of the re-elected US President Donald J. Trump and his Republican Party, the right-wing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and the far-right German AfD as well as the Austrian FPÖ and ÖVP.

Fascist politics exploits “freedom of speech” for authoritarian purposes.  When they come to power, they first exclude critical media, free press and opinions in order to stir up fears and reinforce prejudices.