Elon Musk accused of giving ‘Nazi salute’ at Trump inauguration celebration The world’s richest man drew a ton of attention over an ill-advised ‘salut

[鬼百合]

Elon Musk accused of giving ‘Nazi salute’ at Trump inauguration celebration​

The world’s richest man drew a ton of attention over an ill-advised ‘salute’ he did on stage, with many likening it to a Nazi gesture

Elon Musk accused of giving ‘Nazi salute’ at Trump inauguration celebration

The world’s richest man drew a ton of attention over an ill-advised ‘salute’ he did on stage, with many likening it to a Nazi gesture

www.independent.co.uk

Tesla CEO and “first buddy” Elon Musk was hit with a wave of immediate outrage online and on cable news after he made a salute that many felt was fascist during his speech at the Capitol One Arena on Monday to celebrate President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

While getting extremely excited about the prospect of landing a man on Mars and planting an American flag, the X (formerly Twitter) owner pounded his chest and shot his right arm in an angular motion toward the sky, saying he felt it in his “heart.” He also turned his back to the audience and repeated the gesture towards the American flag hanging over the stage.


Hours later, Musk responded to the criticism of the gesutre in a post on X. “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The “everyone is Hitler” attack is so tired,” he tweeted while reposting a message from 2022 in which he declared that he was no longer a Democrat and as a result was awaiting a “dirty tricks campaign.”

Follow all the latest updates as Donald Trump begins work in the White House

“Standing ovation for Elon Musk. By far the biggest reception of the day,” CNN anchor Erin Burnett noted in the immediate aftermath. “You saw him come out with that odd-looking salute.”

“It was odd-looking,” Burnett reiterated, letting viewers know she would be showing another clip of the moment. Fellow anchor Kasie Hunt noted the gesture “was evocative of things that we have seen through history” and “not something you typically see at American rallies.”

open image in gallery
(AFP via Getty Images)
Considering the strange spectacle and the similarities to a particularly controversial hand motion, it didn’t take long for critics of the Trump-backing billionaire and Doge chief to exclaim online what they thought the world’s richest man was doing at that moment.


“Yeah Elon gave a Sieg Heil,” one user posted on Bluesky, while others pointedly accused him of giving a “Nazi salute”.

“Our new co-president Elon Musk gives a Nazi salute on day one of Trump presidency,” Democratic strategist Sawyer Hackett tweeted while sharing a clip of the gesture.


​