Nazi salute or ‘moment of delight’? Elon Musk’s gesture at Trump’s inauguration has been scrutinized

Billionaire Elon Musk’s hand gesture as he spoke during US President Donald Trump’s inauguration celebration sparked online comparisons to a Nazi salute on Monday, but a leading anti-Semitism researcher said it appeared to represent a moment of enthusiasm instead.

Musk dismissed criticism of the hand gesture as a “tired” attack.

Musk took the stage at the Capital One Arena in Washington to a standing ovation, pumping his arms and yelling “Yaaaah.”

“This was no ordinary victory. This was a fork in the road of human civilization,” he said. “This was really important. Thank you for doing this! Thank you.”

Biting his lower lip, he struck his heart with his right hand, fingers spread wide, then extended his right hand, emphatically, at an upward angle, palm down and fingers together. Then he turned and made the same hand motion to the crowd behind him.

“My heart is with you. Thanks to you, the future of civilization is secured,” he said after finishing the gesture.

The gestures were quickly scrutinized online.

“Is Elon Musk Sieg Heil at Trump’s Inauguration?” asked the Jerusalem Post.

The Anti-Defamation League, which monitors anti-Semitism, disagreed.

“Looks like @elonmusk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge,” it said on Monday.

‘Very irritating’

In Germany, the president of the Jewish community in Munich and Upper Bavaria, Charlotte Knobloch, described the gesture as “very irritating”.

“Far more worrying are Elon Musk’s political views, his offensive interference in the German parliamentary election campaign and his support for a party whose anti-democratic aims should be under no illusion,” she said in a statement.

Musk has backed the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), an anti-immigration, anti-Islam party labeled as right-wing extremist by German security services, in the upcoming national election. He hosted a show with the party leader on his social media platform earlier this month.

“Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is so tired,” Musk said on his X social media platform late Monday.

Shortly after his speech, Musk released a Fox video clip of parts of his speech at X, which was cut from the podium when he made the first gesture while facing the cameras. “The future is so exciting,” he wrote above.

A Trump spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Some X users came to Musk’s defense, claiming Musk had expressed “my heart goes out to you” and criticizing posts that suggested otherwise.

German Scholz answers

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday that he does not support freedom of speech when it is used for far-right views.

“We have freedom of speech in Europe and Germany. Everyone can say what they want, even if they are a billionaire. And what we don’t accept is if it is supporting extreme right-wing positions,” Scholz said in Davos when asked about the incident.

“Shame on Oaf Schitz,” Musk posted on X on Tuesday with a video clip shared by another user showing Scholz speaking at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in the Swiss resort.

“Schitz” has no meaning in German.

Musk previously attacked Scholz at Xu, calling him an “incompetent fool” who should resign after the deadly attack at a German Christmas market.

He also used the platform formerly known as Twitter to express his support for the AFD ahead of next month’s elections.