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Actor Mel Gibson, ever the conduit for bizarre controversies surrounding his career, was put down for the count on social media after a video from a UFC fight showed him saluting former President Donald Trump.
Neither Gibson nor Trump served in the military.
A video, posted to TikTok, showed the former President arriving at the fight to some cheers and applause.
In the background, you can see someone lift their hand in a clear salute to Trump.
That person was confirmed to be Mel Gibson.
So patriotic, Mel Gibson, a man whose father left the US to move to Australia, in part, so his sons could avoid serving in Vietnam, military saluting Donald Trump, a man whose father paid a doctor to write a phony excuse so he wouldn\u2019t have to fight in that same war.pic.twitter.com/uO6x2tmESR— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@Mrs. Betty Bowers) 1626127278
The one, the only, Mel Gibson is in the house! #UFC264pic.twitter.com/aDLZ9iqICb— UFC_AUSNZ (@UFC_AUSNZ) 1625963731
You can see the footage here:
@omar #DonaldTrump at #UFC264 #UFC @ufc
Mel Gibson salutes President Donald Trump at UFC 264.pic.twitter.com/J9gslEqgvt— 404_Not_Found (@404_Not_Found) 1626070013
Scum baghttps://twitter.com/4_04_not_found/status/1414466273443033091\u00a0\u2026— Mona da Vinci (@Mona da Vinci) 1626177868
Nazis stick together.https://twitter.com/4_04_Not_Found/status/1414466273443033091\u00a0\u2026— Barb: Biden WON! \ud83d\udc99\ud83c\udf3c\ud83c\udf38\ud83c\udf3c\ud83d\udc99 (@Barb: Biden WON! \ud83d\udc99\ud83c\udf3c\ud83c\udf38\ud83c\udf3c\ud83d\udc99) 1626124595
Who'd have thought that the man accused of being racist, homophobic and misogynistic would admire Donald Trump?https://twitter.com/4_04_Not_Found/status/1414466273443033091\u00a0\u2026— Oonagh (@Oonagh) 1626121257
Snopes.com, a website dedicated to finding the truth out about urban legends, internet myths and memes, confirmed it was Gibson.
Gibson's history of making homophobic, misogynistic and anti-semitic comments put him ideologically in line with Trump.
In 2010, Gibson was taped calling his ex Oksana Grigorieva, using the n-word multiple times and threatening her with sexual violence.
Why is anybody surprised that wife beater Mel Gibson would salute a misogynist like Donald Trump?— Chafed Charlie (@Chafed Charlie) 1626127587
Neither Mel Gibson nor Donald Trump have done military service in this country so whatever that \u201csalute\u201d is, it ain\u2019t mean sh*t.— Sharon Tito (@Sharon Tito) 1626125379
I\u2019m not surprised that Mel Gibson saluted Donald Trump this weekend.\n\nI AM surprised that it was just a regular salute, and notpic.twitter.com/97zTYekfib— \u1d05\u1d00\u0274\u0274\u028f \u1d0d\u1d07\u0274\u1d05\u1d0f\u1d22\u1d00 \u1d1c\ua731\u1d07\ua731 \u1d04\u1d0f\ua731\u1d0d\u026a\u1d04 \ua730\u026a\u029f\u1d00\u1d0d\u1d07\u0274\u1d1b\ua731 \ua730\u1d0f\u0280 \u1d21\u026a\u0280\u026a\u0274\u0262 (@\u1d05\u1d00\u0274\u0274\u028f \u1d0d\u1d07\u0274\u1d05\u1d0f\u1d22\u1d00 \u1d1c\ua731\u1d07\ua731 \u1d04\u1d0f\ua731\u1d0d\u026a\u1d04 \ua730\u026a\u029f\u1d00\u1d0d\u1d07\u0274\u1d1b\ua731 \ua730\u1d0f\u0280 \u1d21\u026a\u0280\u026a\u0274\u0262) 1626126816
Mel Gibson has denied the Holocaust, claimed that Jews were the cause of all wars and told his wife, "I hope you get raped by a pack of n-----s." So his salute of the orange menace is right on brand.— Adam Sank is Vaxxed and Ready to Bone \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Adam Sank is Vaxxed and Ready to Bone \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1626122854
Gibson also infamously went on an anti-semitic tirade against a police officer who arrested him for driving under the influence, saying "the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world."
He also called Winona Ryder an "oven dodger," an awful term meant to describe a Jewish person who avoided being killed in a death camp under the Nazis.
Gibson's father, Hutton, moved the family from New York to Australia in 1968 when Mel was 12 and cited keeping his older son from being drafted as a reason at the time. Hutton Gibson was a well-known antisemitic, White supremacist Catholic traditionalist who called the Holocaust "mostly fiction."
Trump's father Fred Sr. was connected with pro-Hitler, pro-Nazi organization Amerikadeutscher Bund in New York before the United States entered WWII. On May 31, 1927, Fred Trump was arrested by police while participating in a Ku Klux Klan march in Queens.
For many, these apples didn't fall far from their family trees.
I'm not the least bit surprised or "melting down" at Mel Gibson's Nazi salute. It's par for his course for years and no surprise. Watch his movies or don't. Who cares?— Your Average Thea (@Your Average Thea) 1626191894
lol at people seeing Mel Gibson salute Trump and reacting with anything other than, "Sure, obviously."— Luke Null (@Luke Null) 1626134644
Mel Gibson is a Nazi. What else would you expect him to do but salute another Nazi?— Diane Toucan (@Diane Toucan) 1626127060
Mel Gibson saluting Trump shouldn't suprise anyone. Nazis salute other Nazis.— Amy Lynn\ud83e\udde6\u2764\ufe0f (@Amy Lynn\ud83e\udde6\u2764\ufe0f) 1626124334
Mel Gibson\u2019s dishonorable salute just got him demoted to the D-List with Qevin Sorbo, Scott Baio, and Dean Cain.— \ud83d\udc9e\ud83d\udd4aHeyoka \ud83d\udd4a\ud83d\udc9e (@\ud83d\udc9e\ud83d\udd4aHeyoka \ud83d\udd4a\ud83d\udc9e) 1626119163
Gibson has not stated whether or not the salute was intentionally, unironically directed toward Trump, but the video evidence is fairly damning for him.
It seems there is little Mel Gibson can do to outrun his unpleasant reputation at this stage in his career.