Elon Musk reacts after ‘Nazi salute’ controversy
Elon Musk has poured scorn on controversy surrounding his apparent Nazi salutes at a Trump post-inauguration rally, labelling it “sooo tired”.
Musk, the owner of SpaceX, X and Tesla, kicked off the uproar during a speech at the packed Capital One Arena in Washington DC early on Tuesday (Australian time).
“Some elections are important, some are not. But this one, this one really mattered and I just want to say thank you for making it happen,” he told cheering Trump supporters.
He then slapped his right hand into his chest, fingers outstretched, before shooting out his right arm on an upwards diagonal, fingers together and palm facing down.
Musk – the richest person on Earth and a major Trump donor and adviser – then turned around and repeated the gesture to the crowd behind him.
“My heart goes out to you,” he said.
“It is thanks to you that the future of civilisation is assured. Thanks to you. We’re gonna have safe cities, finally safe cities. Secure borders, sensible spending. Basic stuff.”
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The gestures stirred a wild reaction online, from criticism of the tech billionaire to celebrations by right-wing extremists.
“I don’t care if this was a mistake. I’m going to enjoy the tears over it,” wrote Christopher Pohlhaus, head of the notorious neo-Nazi group Blood Tribe.
He posted the clip of Musk’s salute on Telegram with a lightning-bolt emoji (evocative of the Nazi SS).
Andrew Torba, founder of the far-right Christian Nationalist social media platform Gab, shared the clip on his account with the caption: “Incredible things are happening already lmao.”
But other social media users were shocked.
“Elon Musk hits the ‘Sieg Heil’ at the inauguration. Very neat stuff on day one,” wrote one user on the billionaire’s X platform.
“My god … Musk just did the Nazi Salute live on TV,” wrote another.
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“It was not an accident or a mistake, he did it twice. Way to go America,” said a third.
Israeli publication Haaretz said Musk “appeared to conclude his remarks [at the arena] with … a fascist gesture most commonly associated with Nazi Germany, where it was performed alongside the phrase ‘Heil Hitler’ “.
“Historian of fascism here. It was a Nazi salute and a very belligerent one too,” wrote New York University history professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat.
“Did Elon Musk Sieg Heil at Trump’s inauguration?” asked the Jerusalem Post.
The Anti-Defamation League, which tracks antisemitism, disagreed.
“It seems that Elon Musk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge,” it posted.
US broadcaster CNN replayed the footage multiple times during its program, with a presenter stating viewers were smart enough to form their own opinions.
Musk fanned the flames of it all by not explicitly denying the accusations – although he did make light of the criticism.
“The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired,” he posted on X later on Tuesday.
Ahead of Trump’s swearing-in, Musk enthused about the “Return of the King”, sharing a screenshot of Trump’s once-banned Twitter account alongside the official presidential profile.
Twitter banned Trump after the January 6, 2021, at the US Capitol riots. Musk reinstated the account when he bought the social media platform in 2022.
– with AAP
