Tech billionaire says his critics need ‘better dirty tricks’ after coming under fire over hand gestures.
Jan 21, 2025
Tech billionaire Elon Musk has come under fire after making hand gestures resembling the Nazi salute during a speech celebrating the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump.
Addressing Trump supporters hours after the Republican was inaugurated as the 47th US president on Monday, Musk hailed the outcome of the November 4 election as “no ordinary victory”.
“This was a fork in the road of human civilisation,” Musk said at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC.
“This one really mattered. Thank you for making it happen! Thank you.”
Musk then slapped his right hand on his chest before extending his arm at an upward angle with his palm down and fingers together.
Wait, did Musk just do a Nazi salute? pic.twitter.com/VZChlQXSYv
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) January 20, 2025
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO, who has been tasked with leading the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency in Trump’s administration, then turned around to face the crowd behind him and repeated the gesture.
Musk’s actions drew immediate scrutiny online, with some social media users accusing him of giving the infamous Sieg Heil salute associated with Adolf Hitler.
“I never imagined we would see the day when what appears to be a Heil Hitler salute would be made behind the Presidential seal,” Jerry Nadler, a Democratic congressman from New York, said in a post on X.
“This abhorrent gesture has no place in our society and belongs in the darkest chapters of human history. I urge all of my colleagues to unite in condemning this hateful gesture for what it is: antisemitism.”
Musk’s gesture, which received praise from a number of US-based neo-Nazis, also garnered attention in the Israeli media, with the newspaper Haaretz saying Musk appeared to have given a “‘Roman salute,’ a fascist salute most commonly associated with Nazi Germany”.
Responding to the controversy, Musk said his critics needed “better dirty tricks”.
“The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired,” Musk said in an X post that included a sleepy face emoji.
Al Jazeera did not immediately receive a response to requests for comment sent to Musk’s lawyer and several of his companies.
‘Not a Nazi salute’
Some figures and groups defended Musk, including the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), one of the most prominent organisations dedicated to opposing anti-Semitism.
The New York-based organisation, which has faced criticism for conflating opposition to Israel with anti-Semitism, said it seemed the billionaire had made an “awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute”.
“In this moment, all sides should give one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt, and take a breath,” the ADL said in a post on X.
“This is a new beginning. Let’s hope for healing and work toward unity in the months and years ahead.”
Max Kaiser, executive officer of the Jewish Council of Australia, said he believed that Musk had “unambiguously” made a Nazi salute and criticised the ADL for defending the billionaire.
“It was a clear signal to his rabid white nationalist and neo-Nazi followers that he aligns with their values,” Kaiser told Al Jazeera.
“His platform ‘X’ is well known for promoting racist neo-Nazi content and he has recently endorsed the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) German political party. We should all be very concerned that the right-hand man of the most powerful person in the world is a Nazi. The ADL continue to disgrace themselves by defending Musk’s gesture while baselessly attacking expressions of pro-Palestinian solidarity as anti-Semitic.”
However, Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said it was more likely Musk had been simply “overcome with passion and emotion in that moment and gestured appreciatively to the crowd.”
“It is inconceivable that someone who has visited the death camps and has expressed strong support for the Jewish people would have in any way intended to display a Nazi salute,” Ryvchi told Al Jazeera.
“When many countries are engulfed by an antisemitism crisis with near daily attacks on homes, schools and places of worship, focusing on incidents like this distracts from the real antisemitism that has been projected into the West by the anti-Israel movement. This is the battle all decent people concerned for anti-racism and human rights should be united in.”
Musk’s politics have shifted sharply right since he publicly came out in support of Trump after the Republican narrowly survived an attempted assassination in July.
Earlier this month, the billionaire hosted AfD leader Alice Weidel for a conversation on his social media platform X after endorsing her party in Germany’s national elections scheduled for next month.
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