Need OT Plumbing/Water Heater Expert (or wanna be expert) Help

I have a Ariston GL6 mini hot water heater that stopped working today. I changed out the anode, and upon reinstalling the water heater, it kicked on, then went off. It tripped the circuit breaker, and it does so any time I try to turn it on. I'm trying to determine if I should change out the heating element or the thermostat.

More info: With the unit turned off, I can reset the breaker. I can turn the thermostat all the way down and then turn the water heater on. All is good. Once I turn the thermostat up, the light clicks on for a second before tripping the breaker. I'm thinking this means the heating element is bad and not the thermostat. Any one have experience with this? Thanks!

TLDR Version: can a bad hot water heating element cause a circuit breaker to trip.