Anti-Defamation League defends tech billionaire for making ‘awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm’.Tech billionaire Elon Musk has come under fire after making back-to-back hand gestures resembling the Nazi salute during a speech celebrating the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump.
Addressing Trump supporters hours after the Republican was inaugurated as the 47th US president on Monday, Musk hailed the outcome of the US presidential election on November 4 as “no ordinary victory”.
“This was a fork in the road of human civilization,” Musk said at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC.
“This one really mattered. Thank you for making it happen! Thank you.”
Musk then thumped his right hand into his chest before extending his arm in an upward angle with his palm down and fingers together.
Wait, did Musk just do a Nazi salute? pic.twitter.com/VZChlQXSYv
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) January 20, 2025
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO, who has been tasked with leading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency in Trump’s administration, then turned around to face the crowd behind him and repeated the gesture. Advertisement
Musk’s actions drew immediate scrutiny online, with some social media users accusing him of giving the infamous Sieg Heil salute associated with Adolf Hitler.
“This honestly could not look more like a Nazi salute,” British journalist and commentator Owen Jones said in a post on X.
The gesture also drew scrutiny in Israeli media, with the newspaper Haaretz saying Musk appeared to conclude his remarks with a “‘Roman salute,’ a fascist salute most commonly associated with Nazi Germany”.
‘Not a Nazi salute’
Others defended Musk, including The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), one of the most prominent organisations dedicated to opposing anti-Semitism, which said the billionaire had made an “awkward gesture in a …