Washington DC, United States

In the Madison Square Garden rally of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Tesla owner Elon Musk showed up to extend his support to the former president. 

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During the rally on Monday (Oct 28), Musk was seen wearing a hat on which was written "Make America Great Again" in a font which appeared to be Nazi typography, said a report by FastCompany Magazine.

“I’m dark gothic MAGA,” Musk had said in the rally. 

Also Read: Trump wraps up MSG rally while grooving with Melania, vows to win New York

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The hat, which triggered a controversy, had the MAGA message on it, which was associated with Donald Trump. The message appeared to have been written in jagged, gothic-looking letters, however, social media users said that it appeared to be a type of “blackletter” or Nazi font.

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A lot of netizens said that the font was 'Fraktur'. 

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All about the Nazi font 'Fraktur'

In Germany, the font 'Fraktur' was used by Nazis and it was also part of a subset of “black letter” fonts which had a connection with the German folk styles of calligraphy.

The Fraktur font was used in Nazi propaganda and also in Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf. 

Managing editor of Fonts In Use typography archive Florian Hardwig said that the font was disavowed by the Nazis after rumours spread about it being created by a Jewish person.

Although it was out of style, it was popular as Nazi ideology's very evocative marker among the layman. This is why its presence on Musk's hat incited shock among many users.

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Although some font and calligraphy experts did not agree that Musk's hat had Fraktur font on it, a similarity in the letter led many to think that it was actually 'Fraktur'.

Some of the netizens questioned Musk's intentions behind wearing such an offensive hat. 

“Choosing such a style for an application outside specific fields such as newspaper mastheads or beer logos is typically done for the sake of provocation," Hardwig said. 

Taking to X, a netizen wrote, “Elon posted his MAGA hat, which uses the Fraktur font, popular in nazi Germany. He wore this at a rally meant to evoke the 1939 nazi rally at Madison Square Garden.”

(With inputs from agencies)