Elon Musk has sparked outrage after a controversial gesture during a speech at Donald Trump’s inauguration event. Musk thanked the crowd for “making it happen,” then placed his right hand over his heart and thrust the same arm forward, straight into the air. He repeated the motion for those sitting behind him.
Many users on X, the social media platform Musk owns, compared the gesture to a Nazi salute. In response, Musk dismissed the criticism, writing on X, “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.”
Musk, a close ally of Trump and the world’s richest man, made the gesture at the Capital One Arena in Washington DC. Afterward, he said, “My heart goes out to you. It is thanks to you that the future of civilisation is assured.”
Social media backlash was immediate. Claire Aubin, a historian of Nazism, called the gesture a “sieg heil,” a term associated with the Nazi salute. “My professional opinion is that you’re all right, you should believe your eyes,” she wrote on X.
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a history professor at NYU, also condemned the gesture. “Historian of fascism here. It was a Nazi salute and a very belligerent one too,” she said.
Andrea Stroppa, a close ally of Musk, posted the clip with the caption, “Roman Empire is back starting from Roman salute.” The Roman salute was used by Mussolini’s Fascist Party and later adopted by Hitler’s regime. Stroppa later deleted his post, stating that the gesture was simply Musk expressing his feelings. He suggested the gesture meant “I want to give my heart to you” and emphasized that Musk dislikes extremists.
Musk’s political views have shifted further right recently. He has expressed support for far-right parties like Germany’s AfD and the UK’s Reform UK. However, some defended him, including the Anti-Defamation League, which works to combat anti-Semitism.
