One out-of-context Facebook post sparked allegations of indoctrination, commentary from Elon Musk (a Senior Advisor to President Donald Trump), a myriad of community responses and threats toward Granite Bay High School staff. 

In Emilie Taylor’s 10th grade World Studies class, a student took photos of two slideshow presentations which included information about fascism and cults of personality in history, which included pictures of Musk making a gesture associated with Nazism and of a Trump rally where an individual was holding a sign saying, “Thank you, Lord Jesus, for President Trump.” To demonstrate the personality aspect of influence of a public figure, Taylor’s slide references figures like Mahatma Gandhi, John F. Kennedy to Joseph Stalin and Mussolini, though in the posted picture, they are barely visible. 

Additionally, Taylor explains that the screenshots didn’t convey the entire message of her lessons and were pulled out of context. The lessons that included these slides were set a week apart and were not connected; nor did the lesson state that Musk had taken any part of fascism. 

“I talked about it for two seconds. I go, ‘Hey, Elon Musk made this [gesture]. This is why it’s important to study history, because the hand gesture is very offensive to people,’” Taylor said. “… But this is why you need to know history, so you don’t inadvertently do things like that. And that was to the extent I mentioned Elon Musk.” 

Taylor portrayed multiple political figures from various ideologies to achieve an impartial lens, such as referencing Obama on a separate slide as well. Included in the slides, as a warm up to the lesson, was also a song called “Cult of Personality” by Living Colour, which included many prominent figures. Despite mentioning figures from all across the political spectrum, the posted screenshots were selected to only show Trump and Musk.

“She was actually referencing them towards a song called ‘Cult of Personality’, but it basically mentioned a lot of leaders. It mentioned a lot of Democratic leaders, Republican leaders, leaders from countries that I haven’t even been to, nor heard of,”  said a student in Taylor’s World Studies class. “But it was basically mentioning that if a leader is charismatic people tend to follow them. So she put a representation of a Trump rally to be like ‘because he’s charismatic. People tend to follow him.’”

After the GBHS student took photos during class, the images were shared, and a GBHS community member posted the following onto Facebook. 

The post, which was later deleted, contained false information about the reasons why Taylor left Lincoln High School. 

“It was very hard for me to leave Lincoln. I get really close to the students and the staff I work with,” Taylor said. “I still hang out with the teachers at Lincoln from time to time. I still have great relationships with the kids there.”

Following this incident, Taylor has received multiple supportive emails from the community and staff of both GBHS and LHS.

On April 4, Principal Greg Sloan issued a statement to the GBHS community addressing the concerns regarding the controversial class materials.

“It is important to note that not all information shared online reflects the full context or facts,” Sloan’s statement said. “The situation has been addressed directly with all involved parties, including parents who contacted us, and steps have been taken to ensure alignment with our educational goals.”

On April 6, a popular right-wing X account named Libs of TikTok posted a screenshot of the original Facebook post and the slide presentations, drawing further attention to the lesson that was pulled out-of-context.

“Students at Granite Bay High School (@GraniteBayHigh) in CA were reportedly shown a presentation by a history teacher showing Elon Musk as a Nazi and Trump as a cult leader,” the Libs of TikTok tweet said. “They need to be investigated and defunded.”

The post was accompanied by four photos, including a screenshot of the original Facebook post and three images of the slides that Taylor exhibited in her class. Following this, the X post has received over 600,000 views. 

Elon Musk later commented on the post, receiving over 318,300 views as of April 10. 

“I have not personally committed violence, nor have I ever advocated that others engage in violence, yet the left has firebombed and shot bullets into my stores and many have advocated for my death,” Elon Musk said in the post’s comments section. “They are guilty of that which they accuse me.”

Following these events, local response has been intense. At the board meeting all of the students and parents who spoke only had positive comments about Granite Bay. However, internet users sent comments of defunding the school and firing Taylor, and she was also doxxed by some internet users. 

Granite Bay parent Colleen Jenkins spoke out at the district board meeting.

“Hey, @GraniteBayHigh why is your 10th Grade History Teacher (Ms. Emilie Taylor) allowed to portray @POTUS as example(s) of a “Cult Leader” & @elonmusk as a “Nazi”?! This is extremely wrong, harmfully defamatory & ignorantly biased! Why is she allowed to indoctrinate Sophomores?!” X user Miss Katy Allison said in a comment to the post.

Board members addressed the issue before public comment began. 

“We got a complaint, administration worked with the teacher, due process was done, thorough investigation was done. Mechanisms have been put in place,” Superintendent John Becker said. 

Trustee Tiffany Coleman made a statement regarding the range of responses received by the board following the spread of the situation on social media; some responses being concerned and others “derisive.” 

“I’m grateful to our teacher at Granite Bay who accepted feedback and guidance as she continues to do the vital work of educating our children,” Coleman said. “Of greater concern to me is the way we treat each other. There’s no value gained in belittling our teachers or our administrators.”

Fellow history teacher Brandon Dell’Orto also spoke on the accusations of indoctrination that had been made towards Taylor.

“I’ve yet to come across a teacher that has ever tried to brainwash or indoctrinate a kid. But I have seen many of them be accused of it,” Dell’Orto said.

Several GBHS students made appearances in support of Taylor. Of those who came to speak in regards to the situation, none were critics of Taylor.

“I have my teachers to thank for the expansion that I’ve experienced of my own mindset when it comes to the world around me,” a GBHS sophomore said. 

Following the outburst on social media, Taylor apologized to her classes, saying that it was not her intention to incite this reaction.  

“I’ve come up to her multiple times about all sorts of questions, or some things that might be more personal even to her and she’s been super open and honest about it,” a sophomore in Taylor’s World Studies Class said. “She’s very respectful about your own opinions, so I’d just like people to know that she’s a very open person, and we can actually talk about these things.”