Billionaire Elon Musk’s hand gesture as he spoke during an inauguration ceremony for US President Donald Trump drew comparisons online to a Nazi salute on Monday, but a leading anti-Semitism expert said it seemed more like a moment of enthusiasm to be.
Musk dismissed criticism of the hand gesture as a “tired” attack.
To great cheers, Musk took the stage at the Capital One Arena in Washington, shook his arms and shouted, “Yesssss.”
“This was no ordinary victory. This was a fork in the road of human civilization,” he said. “That was really important. Thanks for making it possible! Thanks.”
He bit his lower lip, slapped his right hand over his heart with his fingers spread wide, and then extended his right arm forcefully upward, palm down and fingers together. Then he turned and made the same hand gesture to the crowd behind him.
“My heart goes out to you. It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is secured,” he said as he finished the gesture.
The gestures quickly came under scrutiny online.
“Did Elon Musk Heil win at Trump’s inauguration?” asked the Jerusalem Post.
The Anti-Defamation League, which tracks anti-Semitism, disagreed.
“It appears that @elonmusk made an awkward gesture in a moment of excitement, not a Nazi salute, but again we appreciate that people are nervous,” it said on Monday.
“Very irritating”
In Germany, the president of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria, Charlotte Knobloch, described the gesture as “highly irritating.”
“Much more worrying are Elon Musk’s political positions, his offensive interference in the German federal election campaign and his support for a party whose anti-democratic goals should be under no illusions,” she said in a statement.
Musk has supported the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), an anti-immigrant and anti-Islam party that is classified as right-wing extremist by German security authorities, in an upcoming federal election. At the beginning of the month, he hosted a program with the party leader on his social media platform.
“Honestly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘Everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo boring,” Musk said on his social media platform X late Monday.
Shortly after his speech, Musk released a Fox video clip with parts of his speech on “The future is so exciting,” he wrote about it.
A spokesman for Trump did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Some users of
Germany’s Scholz answers
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday that he does not support freedom of expression when it is used for right-wing extremist views.
“We have freedom of expression in Europe and in Germany. Everyone can say whatever they want, even if they are a billionaire. And what we don’t accept is if it supports right-wing extremist positions,” said Scholz when asked about the incident in Davos.
“Shame on stupid Schitz,” Musk posted on Tuesday
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“Schitz” has no meaning in German.
Musk has previously attacked Scholz on X, calling him an “incompetent fool” who should resign after a deadly attack at a German Christmas market.
He also used the platform formerly known as Twitter to signal his support for the AfD ahead of elections scheduled for next month.
