Billionaire Elon Musk's hand gesture during a speech at a celebration for President Donald Trump's inauguration sparked online comparisons to a Nazi salute on Monday. Viewers quickly took to Musk's social media platform, X, to share a nine-second video showing Elon after delivering a motivational speech on January 20.
In the clip, he places his hand on his heart before raising it. While many overlooked the gesture, others noticed the unusual movement and took to social media to voice their concerns. A prominent tracker of antisemitism suggested that the gesture appeared to be a moment of enthusiasm rather than anything malicious like the Nazi salute and should not be misinterpreted.
Musk's Unusual Gesture Sparks Criticism

Musk also dismissed the criticism of his hand movement as a "tired" attack. In the short clip, Musk places his hand on his heart before sharply extending his arm in what some viewers are accusing of being a "Nazi salute." He repeated this gesture twice—once facing the crowd and once with his back to them.
As he did this, Musk thanked the audience and expressed his gratitude to the American voters who supported the Republican party in the previous election.
Later, he placed his hand on his heart again and smiled broadly. A user who shared the video captioned the post: "Elon Musk gave two consecutive Nazi salutes at the Trump inauguration parade."
Eagle-eyed viewers soon took to social media to express their shock. One user wrote: "I can't believe what I'm seeing here! This needs to stop."
Another user said: "Going to be great for Tesla sales." A third user wrote: "Elon Musk just did a NAZI SALUTE to the MAGA crowd at the Capitol One Arena!!!"
Several were more confused, not convinced they were seeing right. "Was that a Nazi salute Elon?" asked a fourth.
In Musk's Defense

However, the Anti-Defamation League, an organization that monitors antisemitism, disagreed with the accusations. "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," it posted on Monday.
"Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The 'everyone is Hitler' attack is sooo tired," Musk said on his social media platform X late on Monday.
Musk has teamed up with Trump to lead the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).
In a statement shared on social media, Trump announced that Musk, along with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, would work to "dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures and restructure federal agencies".
Since the inauguration, three lawsuits have been filed against the new department, claiming that the organization "violates federal transparency laws."
It seems Musk's ultimate ambition is to colonize Mars. This new position could boost his influence, " so long as it is not smothered by bureaucracy," according to Musk.
He aims to "improve government efficiency" while working alongside Trump.