Elon Musk caused astonishment on Monday during a Donald Trump meeting in Washington by twice performing a salute that some described as “fascist” or “Nazi”, while others defended “an awkward gesture” .
The boss of X, SpaceX and Tesla gave a speech on stage at the Capital One Arena, where supporters of Donald Trump had gathered for a meeting of the new American president a few hours after his inauguration. He thanked the crowd for allowing the billionaire’s return to the White House, before tapping his left chest with his right hand, then extending his arm with an open palm. He then repeated the gesture, turning to the rest of the crowd behind him.
The historian Claire Aubin, a specialist in Nazism in the United States, estimated that Elon Musk’s gesture was indeed a “Sieg Heil”the Nazi salute. “Well, it didn’t take long.”criticized Democratic congressman Jimmy Gomez on X, in reaction to an image of the richest man in the world making this salute on stage. Another historian expert on fascism, Ruth Ben-Ghiat also stated onIt was indeed a Nazi salute, and one that was very aggressive at that.”.
Later, Elon Musk communicated ambiguously on the subject. On his social network X, he shows himself annoyed by the criticisms made to him without clearly denying it.
“Angle exact”
Some foreign dailies such as the Israeli Haaretz or the British The Guardian affirmed that the American billionaire had “seems“having performed a salute”fascist” or “fascist style”. “It seemed like he had been holding it inside for a while and was finally able to let it go,” declared former Democratic representative Cori Bush on X. “As if he had practiced in front of the mirror to find the exact angle”she quipped.
Despite around ten publications on his social network X since he made his gesture, Elon Musk did not immediately react to the emerging controversy. According to Wired magazine, many far-right personalities in the United States welcomed the event, such as columnist Evan Kilgore, who welcomed a gesture “amazing”.
-In recent weeks, Elon Musk has increased his declarations of support for the far-right German party AfD, but also for the far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, or for the British anti-immigration party Reform UK. “Elon Musk knew precisely what he was doing with this fascist Roman salute at the Trump rally today – which comes on the heels of his explicit embrace of far-right policies and parties“said Amy Spitalnick, head of the Jewish organization JCPA, in a statement.
“Moment of enthusiasm”
For Brandon Galambos, a 29-year-old pastor who was present in the meeting room, the businessman’s gesture was above all “humorous“. “He’s very funny and he uses sarcasm a lot.”he told AFP. “Obviously the left is going to pick up on this and say he’s a Nazi or whatever, but I think it was just humorous the way he did it.”
The ADL association for the fight against anti-Semitism, which has clashed with the billionaire in the past, this time came to his defense. “It appears that Elon Musk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute”wrote the organization on X. Left-wing elected official Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slammed this reaction from the ADL.
“You defend a ‘Heil Hitler’ salute performed and repeated”, replied the Democrat on X. “People can officially stop looking to you as a credible source of information“, she added.
For historian Aaron Astor, the billionaire’s salute should not be categorized as Nazi. “I have criticized Elon Musk numerous times for letting neo-Nazis pollute this platform“, he wrote on X before adding: “But this gesture is not a Nazi salute. It’s a socially awkward hand signal from an autistic man where he says to the crowd ‘my heart goes out to you’.” Elon Musk announced in 2021 that he had Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism.
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