Some call it a Roman salute, others say it’s his awkward way of “his heart going out” to the audience, but the overwhelming majority of people seem to agree – Elon Musk’s salute on Monday at the Inauguration of Donald Trump was the same as the Nazi “Sieg Heil”.
Sorry, I was mistaken. He did the salute twice.
Many clips circulating online omit the part of the clip where Musk says “Thank you. My heart goes out to you.” This adds a bit of context to the clip, but it’s still rather concerning that his display of this message is with a gesture that mimics exactly the salute the Nazi party adopted in Germany as a show of solidarity with Adolf Hitler.
And despite the context, the internet has railed Musk for the gesture since he made it.
As mentioned above, excuses and “context” for the gesture range from Musk being awkward, to it being a Roman salute and even that he didn’t realise what he was doing.
Elon Musk hits the “Sieg Heil” at the Inauguration. Very neat stuff on Day 1. pic.twitter.com/Sy9sGf8JLF
— vorloe (@Vorloe) January 20, 2025
Elon Musk lets his full shadow slip, throwing up a Nazi salute at Trump's inauguration. Media branding it an "odd gesture". Be serious, that's a full on Sieg Heil. pic.twitter.com/vlmQiZ8zTR
— Jake Hanrahan (@Jake_Hanrahan) January 20, 2025
Guys it wasn't a Nazi salute. Does he retweet a bunch of Nazis all the time? Yes. Is he currently serving under a President who openly courts Nazis? Sure. Were there Nazis in the crowd? There were. Did the physical movement exactly replicate the Nazi salute? Of course it did! But what you don't unde
— Ken Tremendous (@kentremendous.bsky.social) January 21, 2025 at 4:44 AM
There’s a lot to be said about this & it has been said. I’m going to say this and make a prediction. Give it a year or two or three but he will lose control of Tesla. THE Blackrock is the 2nd largest shareholder. They bide their time while loosening the slack on the rope. https://t.co/Sr0mMGm9XY
— Phumzile Van Damme (@zilevandamme) January 21, 2025
If what Elon did wasn’t a Nazi salute then do it tomorrow at work.
— mike birnigglia (@MikeBirnigglia) January 21, 2025
Of course, there were folks who came out in defence of Musk’s salute as well, although they were called sycophants and sent comparisons of the gesture alongside Hitler doing the same thing.
Let me break this down:
1. Elon Musk put his hand over his heart.
2. He then threw his hand out to the audience as a gesture of love for voting Trump while saying thank you.Can we please stop calling people Nazis?
— Angela Belcamino (@AngelaBelcamino) January 21, 2025
I have criticized Elon Musk many times for letting neo-Nazis pollute this platform. But this gesture is not a Nazi salute. This is a socially awkward autistic man’s wave to the crowd where he says “my heart goes out to you.” https://t.co/QWWiYHEI65
— Aaron Astor (@AstorAaron) January 20, 2025
DO NOT BELIEVE THE MEDIA
The media is misleading you. Elon Musk never did a Nazi salute. Watch the full video: He simply gestured and said, “Thank you, my heart goes out to you.” pic.twitter.com/e3vBaLoVqx
— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) January 20, 2025
This is a delicate moment. It’s a new day and yet so many are on edge. Our politics are inflamed, and social media only adds to the anxiety.
It seems that @elonmusk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on…
— ADL (@ADL) January 20, 2025
Some are calling this a hoax, but it’s hard to do that when there is footage of the man making the gesture. It’s right there on video for all the world to see and even when you know the context, it’s hard not to see a still frame of the image and draw comparisons to the German dictator.
It also doesn’t help Musk’s case that known Nazis are celebrating his gesture.
With all of that having been said, we doubt that Musk intended to make a gesture that resembled the Nazi salute. But again, the optics of it aren’t great for a man running a platform regularly accused of letting the worst people in society – including neo Nazis – run their mouths.
In response to the outrage Musk commented, “Franky they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.” The lack of an explanation from Musk is not out of the ordinary and we suspect he’ll explain himself to a small content creator in his DMs in a week or so if his recent controversy is anything to go on.
We guess like Trump’s last presidency, the next four years are going to be packed with controversy, especially if we’re kicking off like this. Strap in folks.
