Conservative Priest Calvin Robinson Defrocked After Seemingly Copying Elon Musk’s Salute

Conservative priest Calvin Robinson quickly faced ramifications from his church for making what many social media users deemed a Nazi salute.

This happened a little over a week after Elon Musk made a similar salute during an inaugural rally for President Donald Trump. But, unlike Musk, Robinson's move cost him his job.

On Wednesday, Jan. 29, Robinson attended an anti-abortion rally in Grand Rapids, Mich. While discussing his "one last stand for Christendom," he ended his speech by hitting his chest and raising his arm to the crowd as he said, "I hope I can encourage you, and my heart goes out to you. God Bless."

Robinson's gesture was met with laughter and cheer from the crowd. In a video of the speech obtained by the progressive advocacy group Right Wing Watch on X (formerly Twitter), the priest laughs after making the gesture onstage. The clip of Robinson's speech soon went viral, causing him and his church to share their take on what happened.

Though he has become known for his right-wing views and speaking engagements, Robinson's main job was as a priest at the Anglican Catholic Church. The church released a statement on its website confirming they defrocked him, which to dismiss a priest from their position, per Cambridge Dictionary.

"Mr. Robinson had been warned that online trolling and other such actions (whether in service of the left or right) are incompatible with a priestly vocation and was told to desist," the church said. "Clearly, he has not, and as such, his license in this Church has been revoked.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."

Amid his firing, Robinson responded via X and said he received complaints from "very bitter, angry, vile leftists." He also noted that, despite seemingly doing a Nazi salute, he is "not a Nazi," and thanked the public for their "ignorance."