A supervisor in a Montgomery County township has resigned after a TikTok video that showed her mimicking a salute Elon Musk gave at an inauguration event went viral.
Laura Smith, who was the Vice Chair on the Towamencin Township Board of Supervisors, submitted her resignation on Sunday.
In a letter to the board, posted on the township’s website, Smith wrote that “A video I posted recently to social media has been greatly mischaracterized. Not wishing to give offense, I removed the video from my accounts. 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.”
“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,” she wrote.
The board said in a statement that it intends to accept Smith’s resignation at its next meeting, adding that it “cannot and will not tolerate such conduct.”
On Saturday, Smith also resigned from the boards of the Montgomery County-Norristown Public Library and the nonprofit Knights for Life, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Musk drew condemnation on Jan. 20 when he made a gesture that resembled a Nazi salute twice while addressing a crowd at an inauguration event for President Donald Trump.
The national Anti-Defamation League defended Musk’s gesture at the time, calling it “an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute.” Others, however, accused Musk of deliberately performing the salute.
Smith’s TikTok video showed her saying, “Just checking in on my friends, who are struggling this week,” before she hit the right side of her chest three times and put her arm straight out in front of the camera.
“My heart goes out to you. Hope you’re doing OK,” she said at the end of the video.
Smith later took down the video but it had been downloaded and shared elsewhere on social media by that point..
Smith said in a comment on Facebook that she posted the TikTok video “to stir the pot. Because I can,” according to Northern Penn Now.
