Elon Musk straight-arm gesture controversy

Musk giving a gesture at the second inauguration of Donald Trump before saying "My heart goes out to you." The gesture was widely described as a Nazi salute or Roman salute.

On January 20, 2025, while speaking at a rally celebrating U.S. president Donald Trump's second inauguration, businessman and political figure Elon Musk twice made a gesture that many interpreted as a Nazi or Roman salute as well as the Bellamy salute. This event caused significant criticism from media outlets, politicians and organizations internationally. Multiple European political parties demanded that Musk be banned from entering their countries. Neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups celebrated the gestures.

Musk dismissed accusations of Nazi sympathies on X and derided them as being politicized, while not explicitly denying them; describing them as a "tired" attack, before making a series of Nazi-themed jokes on social media.

There is no consensus as to what Musk's gestures were intended to convey. While some claim Musk's gestures were not malicious, others claim they were intentional dog whistles or legitimate Nazi salutes.

Background

Main article: Second inauguration of Donald Trump

On January 20, 2025, the second inauguration of Donald Trump took place after his victory in 2024 United States presidential election. Many people were invited, including Elon Musk. Musk was previously influential to Trump's campaign as the 2nd largest donor, with nearly $120 million given to the campaign and Trump designating him to co-head the Department of Government Efficiency to help during Trump's presidency.

Prior accusation of antisemitism

Musk had previously been accused of antisemitism in November 2024 after he made an X post agreeing that Jewish communities push "hatred against Whites". He subsequently apologized for the incident, describing it as "one of the, if not the most, foolish thing I've done". Contrastingly, Musk dismissed the criticism of his arm gestures performed at the inauguration as "dirty tricks".

Musk's speech and gestures

After Donald Trump was officially sworn in as the president of United States, Musk attended a celebratory rally at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. where he thanked the attendees for voting for Trump. Musk jumped onto the stage, started throwing his hands in the air, and then began to dance.

After he finished dancing, Musk placed his hand to his heart and extended his arm out above his head with his palm facing down, making a straight-arm gesture resembling a Nazi salute. He then turned around and repeated the gesture to the audience behind him. He then said: "My heart goes out to you. It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured" as he finished the gesture.

Reactions and response

Elon Musk's response

Elon Musk responded to criticism of his gesture on January 21 on his X account, including calling all news outlets criticizing him of being biased. He wrote: "The legacy media is pure propaganda" and "they need better dirty tricks". He also said: "The 'everyone is Hitler' attack is sooo tired."

Musk also returned to his previous attacks against Wikipedia, saying: "Defund Wikipedia until balance is restored!" in an X post. Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales responded to Musk's comments, stating: "I think Elon is unhappy that Wikipedia is not for sale. I hope his campaign to defund us results in lots of donations from people who care about the truth. If Elon wanted to help, he'd be encouraging kind and thoughtful intellectual people he agrees with to engage".

On January 23, three days after the incident, Musk made a series of Nazi-themed puns on social media, which the Anti-Defamation League (after previously defending his behavior) called "offensive" and "inappropriate".

Reactions in the United States

While watching the rally, CNN anchor Erin Burnett said that the action was "striking". The gesture quickly sparked online comparisons to Adolf Hitler's salute, while others saw it as a Roman salute, also referred to as the "Fascist salute".

SNL comedian Michael Che mocked Musk for his gestures and compared Musk's company Tesla to Nazis.

Some notable figures have blamed it on Musk's diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome, an assertion that some autistic people and therapists have rejected.

Sam Kuffel, a meteorologist at CBS 58 in Milwaukee, was fired after she criticized the gesture in two Instagram posts.

Social media

Many users on X, the social media platform which Musk owns, criticized the gesture saying it resembled a Nazi salute. Southern Poverty Law Center, a 501(c)(3) specialized in civil rights, referred to it as an "apparent Nazi salute" and noted it had "ignited a firestorm of controversy". Some academics have agreed with this description, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a professor of history and fascism at New York University, said on X that "That was a Nazi salute - and a very belligerent one too." Kurt Braddock a communications professor at American University who studies extremism, called it a fascist salute and stated "people shouldn't doubt what they saw". And Claire Aubin, a researcher of American Nazism, said of people calling it a Nazi salute: "My professional opinion is that you're all right, you should believe your eyes".

In response to the gestures, many major subreddits on Reddit instituted new rules banning links to or images from X.

Political and activist organizations

The Anti-Defamation League initially came to Musk's defense, stating in an X post: "It seems that Elon Musk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute." However, former ADL national director Abraham Foxman described the gesture as a "Heil Hitler Nazi salute". Aaron Astor, a history professor at Tennessee's Maryville College, defended the ADL's stance on X, stating that it was "not a Nazi salute". When Musk subsequently started posting Nazi jokes on Twitter after the incident, the ADL condemned his social media behavior as "inappropriate" and "highly offensive".

Politicians

Jerry Nadler, a Jewish Democratic congressman from Manhattan, called the gesture antisemitic. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive Democratic congresswoman condemned Musk's gestures and accused him of Nazism.

Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene defended Musk. She accused news outlets of lying about him and spreading "propaganda to serve the Democrat party". Republican representative Elise Stefanik, Trump's nominee to serve as ambassador to the United Nations, defended Musk at her confirmation hearing.

Reactions from white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups

Numerous white nationalist and neo-Nazi figures and movements expressed support for Musk's gestures. Christopher Pohlhaus, leader of the neo-Nazi group Blood Tribe, posted on Telegram, "I don't care if this was a mistake. I'm going to enjoy the tears over it". Andrew Torba, founder of the far-right social media platform Gab, said "Incredible things are happening already lmao." A Proud Boys chapter posted a clip of Musk's video to its Telegram channel with the text, "Hail Trump!". White supremacist movement White Lives Matter also reacted to Musk's gestures in Telegram with the message: "Thanks for (sometimes) hearing us, Elon. The White Flame will rise again!". Thomas Sewell, an Australian neo-Nazi posted a video of Musks' gestures describing it as a “Donald Trump White Power moment”. Nick Fuentes, founder of the Groypers, described the gesture as "straight up like 'Sieg Heil',' like loving Hitler energy."

Reaction from Jewish groups and Holocaust survivors

In Canada, Holocaust survivor David Moskovic stated he was alarmed by Musk's salute. Amy Spitalnick, the CEO of Jewish Council for Public Affairs said that Musk's gestures may act as a spur for violent extremists. He stated: “The salute itself should be enough to warrant condemnation and attention”, he also added: “the ways extremists see an action like this and take it as license for their own violent extremism”.

Family

Musk's ex-girlfriend, Canadian musician Grimes, with whom he has three children, distanced herself from Musk in response to the growing backlash against his gestures. Vivian Wilson, Musk's estranged daughter, criticized the gesture, writing on Threads: "let's call a spade a fucking spade. Especially if there were two spades done in quick succession". Elon Musk’s father, Errol Musk, defended Musk calling the accusations against him “absolute nonsense” and “rubbish”.

International reactions

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, defended Musk on X, stating that Musk "is being falsely smeared," and calling him "a great friend of Israel."

Alexander Lukashenko, president of Belarus, condemned Musk, he stated: “They cannot say anything to justify it. This is an open Nazi salute, the Americans and Mr Musk have simply taken this too far”, he also stated: “Why do you go on stage and do the Hitler salute in front of millions of people? Are you doing anyone good? We, together with the Americans, fought against it. It’s just nuts”.

Europe

An Italian communist youth organization, Cambiare Rotta, hung a doll of Musk upside down in Piazzale Loreto, a square in Milan where Mussolini's body was hung upside down by partisans after he was executed during the final days of World War II. Italian journalist Roberto Saviano attacked Elon Musk in a Facebook post, stating: "The end of all this will be violent. His fall will be equal to that of those to whom it historically refers with this gesture. Musk will fall at the hands of those he now incites fueled by the same violence he practices". Following Musk's speech, Andrea Stroppa, Musk's representative in Italy, posted the image of him on X along with the caption, "Roman Empire is back, starting with the Roman salute". Later, he removed the post, stating that Musk "is autistic" and that he was just expressing his feelings without trying to be fascist.

The German party The Left called for Musk to be banned from entering Germany, citing both the gestures and Musk's past support for Germany's far-right AfD party and his continued interference in European politics. Austria's Green Party also called for a similar ban. Austrian green politician Lukas Hammer called both Interior and Foreign Ministries to consider the possibility of denying Musk's entry.

Musk was condemned by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who compared his gesture to a Nazi or fascist salute. Michel Friedman, a German-French publicist and former deputy chair of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, described Musk's gestures as a "disgrace" and said Musk had shown that a "dangerous point for the entire free world" had been reached. A Berlin judge, Kai-Uwe Herbst, stated that a deliberate right arm thrust in the air is sufficient evidence for bringing charges against someone under German law. However, he said that it would also be necessary to demonstrate that there was malicious intent and that the person in question was aware that this was a Hitler salute. 

British anti-brexit activist group, Led By Donkeys, projected an image of Musk's gestures onto Tesla Gigafactory in the city of Berlin with a phrase “Heil Tesla”. Later, the German law enforcement launched an investigation into images projected by the group, stating that it may have breached German laws on the use of symbols linked to illegal organizations.

Yolanda Díaz, the Spanish minister of labor and longtime member of the Communist Party of Spain, announced that she would quit using X in response to the gesture. She also accused Musk of turning X into "propaganda mechanism".

Five days after the salute incident, Musk unexpectedly appeared by video to address an AfD election campaign event in Germany, telling the audience, "It's good to be proud of German culture, German values, and not to lose that in some sort of multiculturalism that dilutes everything ... There is too much focus on past guilt, and we need to move beyond that." Musk has praised AfD as "the best hope for Germany" as it advocated the "remigration" of those with migrant backgrounds and sought to win control of the federal government in February elections.

South America

Argentina's President Javier Milei defended Musk at the World Economic Forum's meeting in the city of Davos, Milei stated that his "dear friend Musk" has been "unfairly vilified by 'wokeism' in recent hours for an innocent gesture that only means his gratitude to the people". He also said: "I must say, forums like this one have been protagonists and promoters of the sinister agenda of 'wokeism' that is doing so much harm to the West".

See also

• Views of Elon Musk
• Political activities of Elon Musk