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"Speaking at a Conservative Political Action Conference meeting in February 2025, Bannon closed his pro-Trump remarks with a Nazi salute."
Surely this violates BLP? The source provided does not explicitly say the gesture was a Nazi salute. The sentence previously said "what appeared to be", that should be restored. 148.252.144.211 (talk) 18:34, 21 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Isn't the fact that not everyone thinks it is one implied by "appeared to be"? No reason to pretend only some people think it is. This wording seems to be there for the purpose of downplaying it. Aradiades (talk) 22:16, 21 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@Soibangla That's implied by the phrase "seems to be". Everyone can see the video it very obviously is. I understand the need to not say so definitavely but "to some" downplays how obvious it is. It's not like only some people have that interpretation. Aradiades (talk) 22:32, 21 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Soibangla, you should know that BRD would apply here and as this was recently added the ONUS is on you to make the case for inclusion rather than edit warring to restore the content [1]. I would suggest taking a wait and see approach. The problem with things like this (gaffs, misstatements etc) is they say little to nothing about the actual person and often are presented, as is the case here, absent any context. As a one off thing this becomes more like trivia. However if sources suggest it's part of a pattern then this could be included as supporting evidence. Alternatively, if they have lasting ramifications (see the Dean scream) then a case for inclusion is also stronger. At this point in time this appears to be a one and done event and thus UNDUE for inclusion. That might change in the future but the ONUS to show it is on those who want to include it. Springee (talk) 22:31, 21 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
I agree that the gesture of Bannon was relatively unambiguous, and the phrasing "what appeared to some as a Nazi salute" is a little weak. Maybe something like "what appeared to be a" or "what resembled a" or "what was widely described as a" would be better. Otherwise, the paragraph seems good. I think this is clearly notable, there are a lot of media articles on it. Alenoach (talk) 07:13, 22 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
But is it flash in the pan or something with lasting impact? So far it appears to be just a flash in the pan thing. If it doesn't have a lasting impact on the person and doesn't tell us anything about the person it's not DUE in a BLP. Springee (talk) 14:03, 22 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
if the problem is definitively calling it a Nazi salute, why not opt for a phrasing like "performed a Roman salute, more commonly known in modern times as a Nazi salute"? the fact is clear, he made a Roman salute, and it's clear most people know it nowadays as a Nazi salute. that way we state the facts, while not deciding on what was going on inside Bannon's head. //Talya - My contributions - Let's talk// 09:51, 24 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Semi-protected edit request on 21 February 2025 (2)
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Remove the second "on" in the sentence "On January 20, 2021, on his last day in office, Trump pardoned Bannon, sparing him from a federal trial, but did not pardon his codefendants."
Corrected sentence: On January 20, 2021, his last day in office, Trump pardoned Bannon, sparing him from a federal trial, but did not pardon his codefendants.
I changed the Wikipedia sentence from "Bannon closed his pro-Trump remarks with what appeared to some as a Nazi salute" to "Bannon closed his pro-Trump remarks with a Nazi salute." and added 4 reliable sources. I think it can't be mistaken for anything else. That was a Nazi salute.
Creating a discussion here because @Springee reverted the edit and all citations and said it's a BLP violation (which isn't) and recommended that I bring it to the attention of users on Talk. So to avoid edit warring, I am taking his advice because he is a long-term user. Summerfell1978 (talk) 07:23, 21 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
The sources you provided don't support your claim. None of your sources say in their own voice that the gesture was a Nazi salute. Springee (talk) 10:07, 21 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
If you had trouble with clicking on the links to read them, I'll post them here for you verbatim:
"Steve Bannon, former Trump adviser, makes Nazi gesture at CPAC"
"Former advisor to Donald Trump and far-right ideologue Steve Bannon made a Nazi gesture at the end of his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference" Summerfell1978 (talk) 10:12, 21 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
So then I take it you'll be fine with "Nazi gesture" (if not Nazi salute) -- given that that term is unequivocal in the source instead of the headline. Right? Nomoskedasticity (talk) 13:07, 21 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Which sources state as a fact this was a Nazi gesture? Do they all agree? The far-right loving writers at MSN said, "made a hand gesture that some said appeared to be a Nazi salute." If sources like MSN aren't stating this as a fact then it would be a violation of BLP and NPOV for Wikipedia to state it as fact. Springee (talk) 13:42, 21 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
I agree with Nomoskedasticity: multiple reliable sources describe this as a nazi gesture in one way or another, such that calling it a "nazi salute" in wikivoice is unproblematic. The mere existence of others not drawing on a nazi-related commentary is not relevant unless those sources actually explain how it wasn't so (and so ironically make the event objectively more noteworthy). It's not even as meta as whether those giving "tesla salutes" are actually flashing the heil h****r. It's quite direct per sources and supportable here. JFHJr (㊟) 21:27, 21 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
The majority of sources presented hedge and say appears/similar or say that others claim it was. So far it appears that only MSN claims it was. Springee (talk) 21:45, 21 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
To be fair, that's your interpretation that it's a violation, when it's clearly not. I haven't seen any other user say it's a BLP violation. In fact when you mentioned it is, @Nomoskedasticity opined that there's no need for unanimity for a solitary requirement. So if there's no opposition, I will proceed as there's no BLP violation here. Sources are plenty, valid, and reliable. Summerfell1978 (talk) 23:39, 21 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
When the majority of sources don't support your preferred version that is a NPOV issue and given that you wish to claim it was a Nazi salute, implying it was an intentional act, yeah, that requires a clear consensus among sources. It would be reckless on your part to proceed until this discussion and your BLPN discussion have had a chance to get feedback. Springee (talk) 23:44, 21 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Oh, so you're not even familiar with the source you're purporting to discuss?? It's right here: [4]: "Former advisor to Donald Trump and far-right ideologue Steve Bannon made a Nazi gesture at the end of his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), on Friday, February 21.". And you're wrong on your interpretation of BLP: there's no need for unanimity or citing MSN as some solitary requirement. Nomoskedasticity (talk) 18:09, 21 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Sorry, it was NBC, not MSN. Regardless, it would be a clear BLP violation to claim Bannon made a Nazi salute when we have many sources who aren't willing to say as much in their own voice and when BLP says that we should use caution with such claims. Springee (talk) 18:13, 21 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
As I wrote above at 10:12, 21 March 2025 (UTC), the text in the body, and not in the headline, as you wished, says "Former advisor to Donald Trump and far-right ideologue Steve Bannon made a Nazi gesture at the end of his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference".
Additional sources, all from newspapers relevant enough to have Wikipedia articles:
And we have your previous source saying it was a gesture that some said was a Nazi salute. We also have Bannon saying it wasn't, "In an interview with NBC News on Thursday at the conference, Bannon denied that the gesture was a salute.". (per the NBC news source you added). Even looking at your examples, "Bannon appears to flash", "Bannon was accused of wrapping up his CPAC speech with a Nazi salute". All of these make it clear that this is a disputed gesture, just as it was with Musk. This is a BLP and we need to exercise caution when making negative statements about the BLP subjects. Springee (talk) 15:48, 21 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
"And we have your previous source saying it was a gesture that some said was a Nazi salute." Of course some people are always going to deny it. People deny the moon landing, we don't say "to some it appeared to have landed on the moon".
Just because someone did a nazi salute and said "hey I didn't do that" doesn't negate the fact that they did indeed do a Nazi salute. Placing your right hand specifically in that direction and doing that movement can't be mistaken for anything else. Bannon was smirking, he knew exactly what he was doing, because he's sending a signal and can then deny it disingenuously. At this point only Nazis and racists are defending the right-wing pundits throwing Sieg Heil signs. Summerfell1978 (talk) 17:11, 21 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
I would suggest striking the last part of your comment as that may be a personal attack. I guess it would depend on if you are referring to editors or media sources at large. If you think I'm wrong, why not raise the question at BLPN? Springee (talk) 18:18, 21 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Comment – saw the post at BLPN. I think we should err on the side of caution and retain the original language: "Bannon closed his pro-Trump remarks with what appeared to some as a Nazi salute". I believe it is a matter of WP:WEIGHT combined with WP:BLP; be very firm about the use of high-quality sources and neutrality requires that articles fairly represent all significant viewpoints that have been published by reliable sources. So we can't just cherry-pick sources that support our preferred version. And yes, there are some sources that straight up call it a nazi salute. But on the other hand, we can't ignore those sources that also reported on this incident, and don't straight up call it a nazi salute: The New York Times, The Washington Post, BBC, The Associated Press, NBC News. And as for MSN, they were not the author of that story, as can be seen with the attribution stated right above the story, it originated from TAG 24, and in my view, that is not a high-quality source for a BLP.Isaidnoway(talk)08:05, 22 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
A bit of irony in that TAG 24 article. The picture they show which, which perhaps was not intended to be the actual salute and was captioned, "Steve Bannon gave a Nazi salute while giving a speech at the CPAC in Washington,", shows him with his left arm up. Springee (talk) 12:52, 22 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]