Neo-Nazis are celebrating Elon Musk Two giving Nazi-like salutes during a speech to thousands of people Supporters of President Donald Trump on Monday.
“Elections come and go, some elections matter, some don’t, but they really matter,” Musk said hours later during his address inside the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. “And I want to say thank you for making it happen. Thank you.”
At this point, Musk placed his right hand on his chest and touched his fingers before straightening his palm downward, a gesture widely recognized as the “Roman salute.” Adopted by the fascist movement a century ago, it was most famously used by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Germany, and remains associated with the fascist right, especially in Italy, to this day.
After he first gestured, Musk then turned to the crowd members who were seated behind him and, with his back to the camera, repeated the gesture.
“My heart goes out to you,” Musk added.
Musk later shared a clip of his speech at X but at the point where he first salutes, Clip posted by Musk Cuts to a shot of the audience before returning to show him giving a second salute.
Musk, X, and the Trump administration did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The response from the neo-Nazi community around the world was immediate and unanimous.
“Unbelievable things are already happening,” Andrew Torba, founder of Gab, a social media platform popular with dissidents and white supremacists, wrote on a photo saluting Musk.
“The whole neo-Nazi movement is eating it up,” says Nick Martin, an investigative journalist who closely tracks extremist groups and runs an online publication. Informant. “He gave two unmistakable Nazi salutes and to them the message got through loud and clear.”
“We’re coming back,” wrote an administrator of a Nazi meme channel on Telegram under a clip saluting Musk. Members of the group responded with a lightning bolt emoji, A famous neo-Nazi quote to SS.
“I don’t care if it was a mistake, I’m going to enjoy the tears over it,” Christopher Pohlhaus, leader of American neo-Nazi group Blood Tribecaptioned a gif of a Musk salute on his Telegram channel.
Keith Woods, a prominent far-right influencer in Ireland who has repeatedly praised Musk, responded to the actions by writing on X: “Well maybe Jag really is dead.”
Evan Kilgore, a right-wing political commentator, wrote on X: “Holy crap … did Elon Musk just do Heil Hitler at Trump’s inauguration rally in Washington DC … that’s awesome.” Kilgore later wrote: “We’re back a lot.”
Kilgore, Joe There is a holocaust denialServed as ambassador for Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA. The conservative activist group hosted a pre-inauguration ball Sunday evening featuring J.D. Vance, who was inaugurated as vice president today, and the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr.
Musk has Adopted far-right ideologies and personalities around the worldIncluding Tommy Robinson, the Islamophobic activist jailed in the UK for the past two years. More recently, he has promoted Germany’s Alternative for Germany. In an hour-long interview with party leader Alice Wedel earlier this month, Musk agreed with the wild conspiracy theory. That Hitler was a communist.
