Elon Musk gave what appeared to be a Nazi salute at a rally held Monday at Capitol One Arena after President Donald Trump’s inauguration in Washington, D.C. And what was Musk’s intention with the salute? Well, Americans on social media are feeling extremely uncomfortable as they debate the content of the salute, which means the future of the country.
“This was really important, and I just want to say thank you for making it happen,” Musk told a crowd of supporters about Trump’s reelection.
The billionaire placed his right hand on his chest and forcefully stretched his arm upwards with his fingers. fully expanded. Musk then turned around and saluted the crowd behind him again. After the salute, Musk told the crowd: Thanks to you, the future of civilization is guaranteed. ”
Erm pic.twitter.com/ISwJiM4EsH
— Aaron Looper (@atrupar) January 20, 2025
News cameras captured several people saluting. anglewhich included one more on the right side of the mask, which was broadcast online. Reuters. This salute was definitely similar to the salute used by the Nazis in the 1930s and 40s.
Mainstream news outlets seemed hesitant to portray this salute as clearly associated with Nazism. as NBC News “Mr. Musk then forcefully touched his heart before raising his hand to salute his supporters.”
new york times live blog It made no mention of Musk’s salute, instead noting that he “spoke briefly at a gathering at Capital One Arena and vowed to take DOGE, the cost-cutting effort, to ‘Mars.'”
Getty Images photo displays caption from website read it“Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gestures and speaks during the inaugural parade inside Capitol One Arena in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025.”
The reaction online seemed to be complete shock, with one tweet simply saying, “What?” Be extremely common. Sarcastically referring to Musk’s salute:subtle”
And Trump’s presidency begins with the world’s richest man giving a Nazi salute. pic.twitter.com/iGZtTB2UZB
— Beat (@beatmastermatt) January 20, 2025
Some refer to this gesture as the “Roman salute,” but this certainly predates the Nazi era. But since the 1940s, the gesture has become fully associated with the Nazis, who established a fascist dictatorship that murdered six million Jews during the Holocaust.
As Philip Bump of the Washington Post pointed out: blue sky Those who try to defend Mr. Musk’s salute as a “Roman salute” and not necessarily associated with Nazism are not arguing in good faith.
“It was a Roman salute” is the latest version of “Actually, Buddhists also used the swastika.” If you’ve been using it since 1945, you’ll likely notice that this association has changed.
— Philip Bump (@pbump.com) January 20, 2025 12:56 PM
Musk himself shared the entire video short speech In X, even though other users focused exclusively on the Nazi salute.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 20, 2025
Clearly, people on social media were concerned about what they saw as the Trump administration’s embrace of fascism. But now that Mr. Musk has given a salute reminiscent of the most evil regimes of the 20th century, vulnerable people may be even more concerned about how bad things will get in the coming days, weeks and months. It will be.
Extremists praised Musk’s salute online, clearly understanding it as a Nazi gesture.
By the way, this is a prediction for 2025. The version the libraries were hyping up was a fake moderate version that we gaslighted them into believing was a joke. https://t.co/OmmfIozKts
— Anime Kaiservilly II (@praesto04) January 20, 2025
Even some extremists still refer to it as the “Roman salute,” linking it to other neo-Nazi moments.
It’s been a long road since then @RichardBSpencerIn the 2016 Heil Trump speech, @elon muskspeech @realDonaldTrumpInauguration Day 2025
But after eight long years, the Roman salute is officially back in power. pic.twitter.com/7kMducfgTw
— Augustus Invictus (@emperorInvictus) January 20, 2025
However, a small number of Mask fans claim the billionaire was not actually giving a Nazi salute, and far-right influencer Ian Miles Chong claimed that reporter Aaron Looper somehow misled him. I wrote that I edited this clip. It’s not entirely clear what Chung meant, since everyone can see the salute with their own eyes.
Left-wing propagandist Aaron Looper disingenuously cut off Elon Musk’s mask to make it look like he was giving the Roman salute in celebration of America. This is the part he left out.
pic.twitter.com/egdtyD4ewM— Ian Miles Chong (@stillgray) January 20, 2025
Gizmodo reached out to Musk’s companies Tesla and X for comment, but did not immediately receive a response. I will update this post if I receive a response.
