A controversial gesture made twice by the millionaire who will lead a Trump department sparked outrage from internet users.
This Monday, at the Capitol One Arena, in Washington, after Donald Trump’s inauguration, Elon Musk gave a speech in which he thanked the voters who allowed Trump to return to the Presidency.
Midway through his speech, he said, “Thank you,” and made a gesture that many social media users — and even newspapers like — described as what “appeared” to have been a greeting. “fascist” or “fascist style”.
In fact, Musk raised his hand twice, in a gesture similar to the salute of the Roman Empire, used by fascists in the 20th century. Criticism quickly began to pour in on the Internet regarding the new director of the US Department of Efficiency, classifying him as a Nazi.
“My heart is with you”, the Tesla owner continued his speech, placing his hand over his heart. “It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured.”
“Did Elon Musk just give the Roman salute in his inauguration speech?” the streamer Hasan Piker on X. “Hitler would be jealous”
“It seemed like Musk was holding on for a while and finally managed to let go. As if I had been practicing in front of the mirror to find the right angle“, to North American Democrat Cori Bush.
The historian and expert on fascism Ruth Ben-Ghiat wrote on the same social network, cited by the Lusa agency, that it was a “Nazi salute, aggressive”.
And there are even neo-Nazis who are happy with the gesture, reports: Christopher Pohlhausleader of the Blood Tribe, a neo-Nazi group, wrote on Telegram: “I don’t care if this was a mistake. I’m going to enjoy the tears over this.”
Andrew Bagfounder of Gab, a far-right social media platform, also wrote: “Jincredible things are happening“.
On the other hand, there are also those who believe that the gesture by the owner of X and Space X was not intentional, as is the case of Eyal Jacobyan activist against anti-Semitism, who wrote that it was a “stupid gesture” but that “anyone who tries to portray him as a Nazi is intentionally misleading the public.”
The Anti-Defamation League, which has had problems with Musk in the past, points out, commented that the businessman with the largest fortune in the world had “made a strange gesture in a moment of enthusiasm” and even though “it wasn’t a Nazi salute“.
However, Musk has already commented on what happened.
An X user wrote: “We can stop calling people Nazis?” Musk reposted the post and “Yes, exactly” and added a “yawn” emoji.
“Frankly. They need better dirty moves. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is so exhausted”, the owner of X also published. The millionaire also ended up sharing one of the rally that showed this segment of the speech. “The future is so exciting!” he wrote.
However, while there is debate about whether or not Elon Musk’s salute looks like a Nazi, there are also those who have not failed to notice the enthusiasm on stage from the founder of Tesla and SpaceX — probably only surpassed by that of the former CEO of Microsoft Steve Ballmer.
