VERDICT: False. Musk first slapped his heart, extended his arm, and explained the gesture by saying, “My heart goes out to you.” Even the ADL has conceded the moment was “awkward” but not malevolent.
While delivering a speech celebrating President Trump’s inauguration, Musk placed his hand over his heart and then appeared to give a salute to the crowd. After extending his arm to the crowd, Musk thanked the crowd in the arena for making Trump’s presidential victory happen and said his “heart” went out to them.
“This is what victory feels like,” Musk told the crowd. “Yeah! And, this was no ordinary victory. This was a fork in the road of human civilization, okay. There are elections that come and go, some elections are, you know, important. Some are not. But, this one — this one really mattered, and I just want to say thank you for making it happen, thank you.”
Musk can then be seen placing his hand over his heart and appearing to give a salute to the crowd.
“My heart goes out to you,” Musk added as he can be seen with his hand over his heart. “It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured. Thanks to you. We’re going to have safe cities, finally, safe cities. Secure borders, sensible spending, basic stuff. And, we’re going to take DOGE to Mars.”
In a video posted to X by Collin Rugg, CNN showed footage of Musk appearing to give a “salute.”
“I just want to look at that salute that he gave again,” one CNN reporter said. “Just if anybody missed it. We’ll just show it again. He’s just wrapped up here….. alright, so we just showed that, we just showed that…..salute.”
“It was quick. I think our viewers are smart and they can take a look at that, but it certainly was, it’s not something that you typically see at American political rallies,” another CNN reporter said.
In a post on X, PBS News shared video footage of Musk’s speech, and wrote that “Musk gave what appeared to be a fascist salute,” and claimed that Musk’s motions had “appeared similar to” the Nazi’s “Sieg Heil.”
PBS News wrote that Musk had placed “his hand on his chest” and then raised it “in a salute that appeared similar to the ‘Sieg Heil’ used by Nazis.”
Reps. Jerry Nadler and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) both called the viral moment “a Heil Hitler salute.”
Other outlets that called Musk’s raised arm a “Nazi salute,” “fascist salute,” or “Nazi-like” include USA Today, Deadline, Al-Jazeera, Euronews, Wired, The Guardian, The Forward, and Politico.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) issued a statement acknowledging that Musk had “made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm,” adding that “all sides should give one another a bit of grace.”
“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 edge,” the ADL wrote in a statement.
“In this moment, all sides should give one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt, and take a breath,” the ADL added. “This is a new beginning. Let’s hope for healing and work toward unity in the months and years ahead.”
For his part, Musk made several posts on X denying any hateful meaning behind the hand gesture and mocking the left-wing hysterics. He replied to the ADL post with a laughing emoji and the words “Thanks guys,” said Ocasio-Cortez has “lost her marbles,” and agreed with an account calling for political pundits to “please retire the calling people a Nazi thing.”
The Tesla CEO said the “Nazi” label was a “dirty trick” by Democrats and concluded: “The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired,” punctuated with a sleeping-face emoji.
Breitbart News
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