At Monday's grand event, Musk expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the audience for "making it all possible," as he placed his right hand over his heart and then, with a sweeping motion, extended the same arm straight ahead into the air. He subsequently turned around and replicated the gesture for those seated behind him. On X, the social media platform he owns, some likened his action to a Nazi salute, while others disagreed vehemently.
In response to the controversy, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO posted on X, stating, "Frankly, they need to come up with better dirty tricks. The 'everyone is Hitler' accusation is so tired and overused." Musk, the wealthiest man in the world and a staunch ally of President Trump, made this gesture while speaking at the Capital One Arena in Washington DC.
After offering his second one-armed salute, the 53-year-old entrepreneur declared, "My heart goes out to you. It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured." However, the social mediasphere immediately erupted in backlash and disagreement regarding Musk's intentions.
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a history professor at New York University, emphasized, "As a historian of fascism, I can confidently say that it was indeed a Nazi salute, and a very aggressive one at that." Conversely, the Anti-Defamation League, an organization dedicated to combating antisemitism, offered a different perspective. "It seems that Elon Musk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, rather than a Nazi salute," they posted on X.
Italian media reported that Andrea Stroppa, a close confidant of Musk who has connected him with Italy's far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, posted a clip of Musk with the caption, "Roman Empire is back starting from Roman salute." The Roman salute was once widespread among Benito Mussolini's Fascist Party in Italy and was later adopted by Adolf Hitler in Germany. Stroppa later deleted his post but later clarified, "That gesture, which some mistakenly perceived as a Nazi salute, is simply Elon, who has autism, expressing his feelings by saying, 'I want to give my heart to you.' That is precisely what he communicated into the microphone. ELON DISLIKES EXTREMISTS!"
This gesture comes amidst Musk's increasing shift towards right-wing politics. He has recently expressed support for Germany's far-right AfD party and the British anti-immigration party Reform UK. During the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was questioned about the comparison to a Nazi salute, which is banned in Germany. He responded, "We have freedom of speech in Europe and in Germany. However, what we do not accept is supporting extreme right positions. And I want to emphasize that again."
Musk has emerged as one of Trump's closest allies and has been tapped to co-lead what the president has termed the Department of Government Efficiency.
