Elon Musk has responded to claims that he gave a ‘Nazi-style’ salute while on stage at Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The Tesla tycoon, 53, joined a string of celebrities and politicians in Washington on Monday (20 January) to show their support for the new President as power officially changed hands.
Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the USA and made a powerful speech laying out his promises as leader – which garnered a viral reaction from former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.
But his big day has been overshadowed by controversy after Musk made a series of movements which many people have deemed as ‘fascist’.
As well as being seen making a bizarre gesture after Trump confirmed his pledge to send US astronauts to Mars, the Space X boss later appeared to make other strange motions.
He’s found himself in hot water as viewers watching the inauguration claim to have saw the billionaire making a salute which many people reckon was fascist during his speech.
While on stage at the Capitol One Arena, Musk was seen excitedly discussing the prospect of planting an American flag on Mars.
He then thanked the crowd for helping secure Trump’s victory against Kamala Harris in the 2024 elections, praising the audience for ‘making it happen’.
Musk then appeared to thump his chest, before his right arm shot up in an angular motion towards the sky.
Elon Musk’s movements at Donald Trump’s inauguration have sparked controversy (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
The businessman then turned away from the audience and replicated the gesture, this time towards a US flag which was draped over the stage.
“My heart goes out to you,” Musk then told supporters. “It is thanks to you that the future of civilisation is assured.”
During live coverage of the event, CNN anchor Erin Burnett was heard saying: “Standing ovation for Elon Musk. By far the biggest reception of the day. You saw him come out with that odd-looking salute.”
Her colleague Kasie Hunt also pointed out that the gesture ‘was evocative of things that we have seen through history’ and ‘not something you typically see at American rallies’, the Independent reports.
Discussion about Musk’s movements has erupted across social media, including on his own platform, X.
Many people have suggested the gesture was similar to a Nazi salute.
One person said in a post on X: “Elon Musk just did a Nazi salute on national television.”
(ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
Another wrote: “WTF?? What did Elon Musk just do??”
A third added: “THERE’S NO WAY ELON MUSK DID A SIEG HEIL AT TRUMP’S INAUGURATION.”
And a fourth commented: “Even if you’re a Elon Musk d**krider, you have to acknowledge that this dude LITERALLY just did a Nazi salute. What the f**k????”
According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a Nazi salute is defined as ‘raising an outstretched right arm with the palm down’.
After receiving a host of backlash on social media, Musk has now spoken out about the controversy.
In a post shared on his platform X today (21 January), he responded to a tweet which read: “The salute hoax is just another part of the ‘dirty tricks campaign’.”
Quoting the original post, Musk wrote: “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.”
Another user asked to ‘retire the calling people a Nazi thing’, to which Musk responded: “Yeah exactly,” alongside a yawning emoji.
Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the USA and made a powerful speech laying out his promises as leader of the nation, which garnered a viral reaction from former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.
Featured Image Credit: ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images
Topics: Elon Musk, Donald Trump, US News, Politics, History
Elon Musk could he spotted making a very bizarre gesture after Donald Trump confirmed his pledge to send US astronauts to Mars during his inaugural address.
We are once again in the era of a Donald Trump presidency, which means that things are once again about to get very interesting.
The past few months have seen Trump forge a close friendship with tech billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, with the 53-year-old even earning the role of government efficiency tsar.
We’re still none the wiser on what the Department of Government Efficiency (which of course has the acronym DOGE) will actually do, but Musk’s influence can already be seen as Trump promised to send astronauts to Mars during his inaugural address.
Elon Musk at the inauguration (CHIP SOMODEVILLA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
“We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars,” Trump told attendees at the US Capitol.
Before we even begin to speculate over the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ about sending astronauts to space, let’s first dissect Musk’s reaction to the announcement.
The cameraman did an astounding job of panning over to Musk once Mars was mentioned, given that it’s his lifelong obsession, and managed to catch his very goofy real-time response.
In the clip, Musk can be seen grinning from ear-to-ear and mouthing something to the camera, before giving a final thumbs up. Just in case his first two reactions didn’t signify his pleasure with the announcement.
Of course the reaction of a man who (despite being the very famous) still has no idea how to act on camera has garnered plenty of reactions online.
“Elon immediately looking for the memes,” one person responded to the clip, while a second added: “Elon Musk’s reaction when Trump says we will plant an American flag on Mars is pure gold.”
It would appear that Barron Trump doesn’t share Elon’s fascination with Mars (X)
Meanwhile others were quick to point out that while Musk looked excited at the prospect of humans reaching Mars, Trump’s 18-year-old son Barron was much less enthusiastic.
“Barron’s mind is still in the trenches,” one user joked, as a second commented: “Barron tired of hearing about Mars.”
“Barron Trump is not going to Mars, that’s for sure,” a third added.
Although Barron appears to have very little interest in visiting the Red Planet, making it to Mars is somewhat of a lifelong goal for Musk, who once told SXSW crowds in 2013: “I’d like to die on Mars, just not on impact.”
