Elon Musk gestures as he speaks during the inaugural parade inside Capitol One Arena. Courtesy of Getty Images
By Mira Fox
January 20, 2025
“My heart goes out to you; it is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured,” Elon Musk said at an inauguration event at the Capitol One Arena. Then he thumped his hand on his chest and extended his arm straight out in what looked, to many online, like a Sieg Heil salute.
Online, Musk’s supporters defended the gesture, saying it was simply a gesture illustrating the sentiment of “my heart goes out to you” by touching his heart and then pointing to the crowd. But many others compared the stiff-armed salute to photos of Nazi soldiers saluting Hitler.
The tech magnate and incoming Trump administration leader is famously clumsy. Still, since taking over Twitter and renaming it X, he has demonstrated support for fringe and extremist beliefs, reinstating numerous far-right and white nationalist accounts that had been banned from the platform for spreading hate speech and conspiracy theories, lending credence to the theory that the salute was meant to evoke the Nazi party.
Musk has said the importance of free speech outweighs hate speech, and that he trusts in user-driven features such as Community Notes to police the platform. Nevertheless, antisemites including Nick Fuentes have thrived on the platform; Fuentes live-streamed his own commentary during Trump’s inauguration ceremony, during which he called the choice to include a rabbi “a stain on a beautiful ceremony.”
But his support for antisemitism and conspiracy theories goes beyond simply reinstating banned accounts. He has replied positively to numerous tweets from well-known antisemites such as Gab founder Andrew Torba, endorsed antisemitic conspiracy theories and promoted the AfD, a far-right German political party.
While Musk has gone viral for clumsiness in the past, the gesture during his speech was oddly sharp; his arm forcefully thrusts out twice as he turns to the crowd. The accompanying speech also referenced Trump saving “civilization” just as the Nazi party portrayed itself as saving society from the scourge represented by Jews.
Even if Musk did intend to do a Sieg Heil, however, it’s still protected as free speech — in real life just like on X.
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