Elon Musk has sparked outreach after making an armed gesture during a speech celebrating Donald trump’s inauguration, with many drawing comparisons to a Nazi salute. The incident occurred at the Capital One Arena in Washington DC, where Musk thanked the crowd for their support, placing his right hand over his heart before extending the same arm straight out in front of him. He then turned and repeated the gesture for the audience between behind him.
Many on the social media platform X, which must owns, quickly criticised the gesture, with some claiming it resembled the infamous Nazi salute. In response, Musk dismiss the accusation, writing frankly, “They need better dirty tricks. The “everyone is Hitler attack” is sooo tired”.
Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and strong supporter of trump, expressed his gratitude to the crowd, saying, my heart goes out to you. It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured, after performing the controversial action. The backlash was immediate, with some historians weighing in on the gesture. Clarie Aubin, a historian specializing in Nazism is the US, said Musks gesture appear to be a a “sieg heil,”on Nazi salute.
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a history professor at New York University , also labeled it as a nazi salute, adding it adding that it was a “very belligerent”. Andrea stroppa, a close associate of Musk, shared a trip of the incident on social media with the caption, “Roman Empire is back starting from Roman salute”. The Roman salute was widely used by Benito mussolini’s fascist party in Italy and after adopted by Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime.
Stroppa deleted the post and clarified that Musk’s action was not a Nazi salute, but rather an expression of his feelings. He explained that Musk, who has autism, was trying to convey, I want to give my heart to you, and it’s emphasized must dislike extremities. Despite the controversy some individuals have defended Musk, including the anti defamation league, an organization dedicated to batting anti-Semitism. The ADL stated that musk’s adjuster was likely an awkward expression of enthusiasm , not a nazi salute.
