Towamencina Supervisor Laura Smith calls for resignation after controversial TikTok greeting

A Montgomery County district superintendent came under fire and resigned from her position at a local library and nonprofit after posting TikTok in which he imitates the controversial gesture made by Elon Musk during President Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremonies – which many compare to the Nazi salute.

Towamencin County Superintendent Laura Smith, a Republican and board vice president, posted a video of herself punching her chest three times and then extending her arm outward. The video began trending and sparking outrage online on Friday night, days after Musk made a similar gesture while speaking to a crowd of Trump supporters at the Capital One Arena in Washington.

“I’m checking on my friends who are struggling this week, my heart goes out to you and I hope you’re okay,” Smith says, accompanying her gesture. Musk he also said: “my heart is with you” after making the gesture.

TikTok – Posted and eventually deleted from Smith’s now-deleted accountended with her resignation Saturday from their positions on the board of the Montgomery County-Norristown County Public Library and Knights for lifelocal nonprofit, as well as numerous emails and social media posts directed at the town. Local elected officials, including Smith’s Democratic colleagues on the board, and voters have called on her to resign as district supervisor.

In a statement to The Inquirer, Smith said the video had been “largely mischaracterized.” On Facebook, she said she posted “to stir the pot.” Because I can.

“Not wanting to offend anyone, I have removed the video from my accounts. “I hate racism, anti-Semitism or discrimination in any shape or form, and my work as a city supervisor affirms my commitment to treating all people with dignity and respect,” she said in a statement.

Smith did not respond to The Inquirer’s inquiry about whether she would resign as supervisor.

Her fellow Republicans on the board, Chairman H. Charles Wilson III and Treasurer Kristin Warner, did not respond to The Inquirer’s request for comment.

Smith was first elected as township supervisor in 2013, and her second six-year term ends at the end of this year. She was the second vice president and secretary of the Montgomery-Norristown County Public Library until the board of trustees accepted her resignation on Saturday “due to conduct inconsistent with the library’s values.”

Blacksmith voted against — out of fear of litigation — by hanging flags in Towamęcin to welcome marginalized groups; she was driving Fee for draft regulations regarding backyard chickens in 2023; and when last year the commune planned to build a Wawa store, she had one request: “Just make sure it’s the best looking Wawa you can build. We don’t want ugly, not ugly.

Local Democrats make it clear they want Smith to resign as township supervisor. “I’m not sure what’s taking her so long,” said Jason Salus, chairman of the Montgomery County Democratic Party.

Joyce F. Snyder, secretary of the board, said she was “shocked.” [Smith] used the Nazi salute.”

“I think on a daily basis she likes to, as she puts it, ‘stir the pot,’ so it wasn’t a surprise to me,” Snyder said. “To the extent she went.”

“I don’t think there’s any way you can put the genie back in that bottle,” Snyder added. “I don’t think he should be put back in that bottle.”

After Musk made the gesture on Monday, the Anti-Defamation League defended himcalling the gesture “awkward” and adding that “all parties should show each other a little grace.” What an organization days later, he condemned Musk for a series of online “jokes” about Nazis.

The ADL regional office did not respond to a request for comment on Smith’s video.

“I thought it was stupid to post,” Christian Nascimento, the Montgomery County GOP chairman, said of Smith’s video. “I agree with ADL that Musk was only gesturing, which can be seen by watching the entire video. However, with all the media fuss about this issue, there is no need to mislead people with something like this because it simply distracts from the real issues.”

Kofi Osei, deputy secretary and deputy treasurer of the Towamencin board, noted that Smith’s term ends in December: “I encourage everyone to continue to wait for Laura or her chosen successor to respond and consider your choice on November 4, 2025.”

“Just to be clear, if you are doing a pose that is intended to upset people because it looks like a Nazi salute, then the pose you are doing is a Nazi salute,” Osei wrote on Facebook. “I condemn the blatant anti-Semitism expressed by Laura Smith in no uncertain terms and believe she should apologize and resign from the Board of Trustees.”

The film also attracted the attention of elected leaders outside Towamęcin, including state senator Maria Collett of Montgomery County and Upper Merion County Supervisor Greg Waks, both Democrats.

The response from voters – and other concerned citizens – echoes that of local officials. The commune’s Facebook page is flooded with comments expressing disgust at Smith’s film and montgomery county subreddit users mobilized to speak out against Smith at upcoming public meetings.

Snyder said the board has probably received more than 500 emails since Smith’s video went viral.

“I can’t keep up,” Snyder said. – I mean, I literally can’t keep up.

She added that probably only 15 to 20 of those emails come from town residents.

“Although I am 100% sure that city officials will show up in force at our next meeting to express their dissatisfaction,” Snyder said.

Snyder said the political makeup of the area — once considered a Republican stronghold — is changing, calling Towamencin “truly purple.” After the 2021 election, Snyder became the borough’s first Democrat has voted for office since 1992. Osei was elected two years later.

And with changing politics in the region, Snyder said, it’s time to shake up who’s at the helm, too.

“I think the biggest takeaway I’ve taken from all of this is, ‘Wow, is it time for new leadership, Towamencin?’” Snyder said.

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