Calvin Robinson has had his licence to operate as a priest in the Anglican Catholic Church removed after performing an Elon Musk-style salute.
Robinson was speaking at the National Pro-Life Summit in Washington DC when he concluded his remarks by telling the audience "my heart goes out to you" and performing the gesture.
It comes days after Musk was accused of making a Nazi salute by critics at the time of Donald Trump's inauguration. Musk responded to the criticism by saying, "Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The 'everyone is Hitler' attack is sooo tired."
The Anglican Catholic Church (ACC) said in a statement that it believed Robinson was attempting to "curry favour with certain elements of the American political right by provoking its opposition".
The ACC also indicated that this was not the first time they had raised concerns about Robinson: "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. Clearly, he has not, and as such, his license in this Church has been revoked.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."
The ACC claimed that mimicking the Nazi salute, even if done in jest, trivialised the Holocaust and the sacrifice of World War Two soldiers and that "such actions are harmful, divisive, and contrary to the tenets of Christian charity".
Robinson himself has confirmed that the gesture was a joke and that he is not in fact Nazi.
Writing on X, Robinson addressed the controversy, "For the record, in case it needs saying: I am not a Nazi."
Robinson continued, "The joke at the end was a mockery of the hysterical 'liberals' who called Elon Musk a Nazi for quite clearly showing the audience his heart was with them. Context is key, but sometimes people ignore context to confirm their own prejudices. People see what they want to see."
The broadcaster and commentator appears to have been caught off guard by the ACC's decision. He said in another post on X: "Thank you for all your lovely, supportive messages. Yes, it does seem my licence has been revoked. I cannot go into any detail yet because I have none. I am obedient to my bishops, and I have not heard from the Archbishop yet - so I do not know the situation or what I am able to share. I learned this the same way you did, via social media."
Robinson was defended by his friend, the political activist, Laurence Fox, who questioned the actions of the ACC against someone he described as a "deeply committed servant of god" and a "truly, genuinely wonderful and honourable man".
