About Elon's... Gesture

During the second inauguration of President Trump, his financier - South African Billionaire Elon Musk - took to the stage to speak to the American people. During his speech he gave a stiff-armed palm down salute to the audience, declaring his heart was going out to them.

To many viewers, Elon Musk had just given what appeared to be a fascist salute during the biggest day of the democratic process. Those same viewers took to social media in outrage to label Elon Musk's gesture a Hitlarian Nazi salute. Musk slammed the criticism and wrote on X that “the ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.” Whether it was or not, we can't know and Elon will only tell us what he wants us to believe. Calling it a Nazi salute is nothing but speculation and conjecture. So instead here are some facts.

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Neo-Nazis Think It Was a Nazi Salute

Whether or not Elon Musk intended the salute to be a modern “Sieg Heil” or not, it was absolutely received that way by extremists online. Here are some of their feelings. about it:

• “I don’t care if this was a mistake. I’m going to enjoy the tears over it.” - Christopher Pohlhaus, the leader of the neo-Nazi group Blood Tribe.

• Christopher Hood, founder of the New England race-separatist movement NSC-131, posted the clip to Telegram with the emojis and .

• “Incredible things are happening already lmao.” - Andrew Torba, founder of the far-right Christian Nationalist social media app Gab

• “Ok maybe woke really is dead.” - Far-right author Keith Woods, a “self-described ethno-nationalist and antisemite.

• “Donald Trump White Power moment.” - Thomas Sewell, an Australia-based neo-Nazi, whose Telegram avatar is a picture of himself doig a Nazi salute

• “Hail Trump!” - The Proud Boys Ohio Chapter

• “Thanks for (sometimes) hearing us, Elon. The White Flame will rise again.” - A chapter of the white nationalist group White Lives Matter posted alongside a picture of a banner drop the group had previously executed at a freeway overpass reading: “Elon Musk Stop White Genocide.”

So you know, it wasn't a Nazi salute - but Neo-Nazis sure seem to think it was. But that's probably just a projection. Elon Musk's sporadic accidental gesture doesn't have any meaning to it especially if he's never been connected to Neo-Nazi Ideas and white supremacy.

Elon Musk's Ties to Neo-Nazis and White Supremacy

Again, Elon's gaff doesn't make him a Nazi and it wasn't a Nazi salute. However here are some facts that you can use to make your own decision on whether or not you think Elon is aligning himself with that ideology. These aren't opinions, just an unbiased list of things that have happened.

• Recently, Musk has allied himself with far-right movements in Europe, including the extremist German party AfD (Alternative for Germany).

  • Germany's domestic intelligence agency is currently monitoring the AfD for suspected right-wing extremism, which the party denies.

  • Members of the party have been accused of using Nazi slogans in speeches and downplaying the Holocaust.

• After purchasing Twitter he reinstated previously banned, white nationalists back to the platform in the name of free speech.

• He often posts Pepe frogs, and other images and memes associated with the alt-right, including recently temporarily adopting the handle “Kekius Maximus.” (look up the whole Kek thing yourself it's too nerdy for me to get into)

• On January 10th, 2025, Elon Musk held a Twitter Spaces for 200,00 people with Alice Weidel, the chancellor candidate for the far-right Alternative for Germany party.

  • During this interview, she declared that Adolf Hitler was a "communist," despite being a Nazi dictator who sent communists to concentration camps.

  • Furthermore, she stated "He wasn't a conservative. He wasn't a libertarian. He was this communist, socialist guy."

• He gave this ominous message to Germany: "People really need to get behind the AfD. Otherwise, things are going to get very much worse in Germany."

• Musk frequently attacks European leaders — from the United Kingdom to Germany, and France.

• He wrote an op-ed for the conservative newspaper Welt am Sonntag urging Germans to vote for the AfD. The paper's opinion editor resigned in protest.

• In 2023, Musk endorsed a post on X that accused Jews of hating white people, describing that claim as the “actual truth”.

• Musk has also backed the British far-right, anti-immigration party Reform UK. Last summer, a Reform UK candidate came under fire after he claimed that the country would have been “far better” if it had taken Hitler’s “offer of neutrality”.

• Musk is also close friends with right-wing Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who was once a youth leader of the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement.

• Recently, Musk promoted Tucker Carlson’s interview with a Nazi apologist who said the murder of Jews in concentration camps was ‘humane’ and that Winston Churchill was the ‘chief villain’ of World War II - calling it ‘very interesting’ and ‘worth watching'.

• “They used to support Hitler.” - Elon Musk's father, Errol Musk, talks about Elon’s maternal grandparents, who were members of the Nazi party in Canada and later moved to South Africa because they supported the Apartheid regime

The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. - George Orwell, 1984

Musk also reposted a video clip of his rally remarks that included the moment he made the questionable gesture, commenting: “The future is so exciting!!”