At President Trump’s post-inaugural festivities, Elon Musk rose to the podium emblazoned with the Seal of the President of the United States to make a speech. It was a privilege earned through the $277 million he paid to back Trump and other Republican candidates and the MAGAfication of his X platform. As the crowd roared their approval at his commentary that the election “really mattered,” he slapped his chest and then threw his arm out straight, palm open and down. Then, just in case we missed the point, he turned around to face the patriot banners behind him and did it again.
It was, all euphemisms aside, a Nazi salute. Or as a headline in the German newspaper
Zeit put it, “Ein Hitlergruß ist ein Hitlergruß ist ein Hitlergruß.” I doubt anyone needs a translation. Nor were the Germans the only ones to get it—they, after-all, might be particularly sensitive to such things.
France24 headlined: “Musk repeatedly makes gesture likened to ‘Nazi salute’ at Trump rally”.
Lemonde online quotes historian of Nazism Claire Aubin: “My professional opinion is that you’re alright, you should believe your eyes” that Musk’s gesture was a “sieg heil” or Nazi salute.
The progressive Jewish paper, The Forward, writes, “Elon Musk appears to do Nazi salute at Trump inauguration rally.”
The liberal Israeli newspaper, Haaretz’s, headline: “Musk’s ‘Fascist Salute’: U.S. Jewish Establishment Failed Its First Test With Trump 2.0.”
The failed test Haaretz references can be symbolized by the ADL’s statement, which goes a long way toward giving Musk whatever plausible deniability he wishes to claim (so far not too much in the way of denial).
Per ADL, Musk made an “awkward gesture” and “not a Nazi salute.” It is, however, the ADL’s defense of the gesture that is truly awkward, giving cover to mainstream U.S. media to make wishy-washing assessments or avoid it completely.
In a video caption, NBC News summarizes, “Musk then forcefully touched his heart, before raising his hand and saluting supporters.”
The Washington Post avoids the issue in initial coverage, merely stating that, “Elon Musk gives exuberant speech at inauguration.”
The New York Times has thus far chosen to cover the controversy itself, declaring: “Elon Musk Ignites Online Speculation over the Meaning of a Hand Gesture.”
“Mr. Musk twice extended his arm out with his palm facing down,” the subhead continues, “drawing comparisons to the Nazi salute.” Kudos to the Times for at least recognizing that some people “online” might have seen a Nazi salute.
As noted by Vanity Fair, “Elon Musk Sure Isn’t Denying That His Inaugural Gesture Was a Nazi Salute.” Indeed, he took to X and made sarcastic comments about his critics’ tactics: “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.”
No doubt, after the controversy surrounding his endorsement of the far-right German AfD party, declaring that “only the AfD can save Germany,” Musk is tired of being compared to Hitler. Was there some kind of dark humor in his performance? An effort, once again, to “own the libs?” Who knows, but some gestures have deep and potentially abiding consequences.
On the one hand, Euronews’ statement that “Musk’s apparent Nazi salute controversy overshadows Trump’s inauguration” is probably an exaggeration, but at best it’s a distraction from the avalanche of anti-democracy measures the Trump regime is pushing forward. On the other hand, neo-Nazi and fascist activists in the United States are celebrating. As an AP headline puts it, “Musk’s straight-arm gesture [was] embraced by right-wing extremists regardless of what he meant.”
Context is everything here. Within hours of Musk’s vile and inflammatory gesture—for which he makes no apology—Trump issued over 1,500 pardons to January 6 perpetrators and commuted the sentences of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers convicted of seditious conspiracy. The message is one of impunity and encouragement to vigilante and paramilitary actions reminiscent of justice as served during the Weimar Republic, often glossed with the expression, “blind in the right eye.”
What can we expect from the far-right actors eager to show their loyalty to the new regime and empowered by pardons and Musk’s symbolic permission to go ahead? Just make sure to do it with a smarmy smile? The failure to put these things together, to provide this context, by many in the media mainstream, amounts to what can only be called “Nazi-washing.”
