“Don’t say Hess to Nazi accusations! Some people will Goebbels anything down!”– Elon Musk on X responding to accusations with puns involving the names of prominent German Nazis.
During the 2025 inauguration ceremony of President Donald Trump, Elon Musk made a gesture about a minute into his speech at Washington’s Capital One Arena that shocked many observers.
After thanking voters who helped elect President Trump, he brought his right hand to his heart and swung his arm out forward with his palm facing the ground before turning around and repeating the gesture. Many people watching the speech believed his movement to be a Nazi salute, inciting debate regarding the interpretation of the gesture.
“My heart goes out to you. It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured,” Musk said to the crowd.
People and organizations all over the United States condemned Musk for his actions, some openly stating their outrage toward Musk and the incident.
U.S. Representative Jerry Nadler wrote in a post on X, a Musk-owned social media site: “I never imagined we would see the day when what appears to be a Heil Hitler salute would be made behind the Presidential seal”.
Some people disregarded any attempts to compare the gesture to a Nazi Salute, claiming that Democrats are inciting controversy.
“These people are so thirsty for controversy and racism—that doesn’t exist—it’s astounding,” influencer Charlie Kirk posted on X.
Musk addressed the uproar in an X post of his own, responding, “The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.”
Musk then slammed media coverage of the controversy. “The legacy media is pure propaganda,” he posted on X about a week ago. He then repeated a line in his speech after President Trump’s victory in the 2024 election, telling X users: “You are the media now.”
Others, like Melissa Ryan, the founder of a newsletter dedicated to tracking far-right extremists, cited cause for worry about the behavior of debaters. “As long as we’re having the debate, it makes it easier for the next person to insert hateful ideology into the discourse,” she stated in her newsletter, observing the lack of correction from Musk’s followers and debaters on both sides and wondering why Musk was slow to remark upon the incident.
