Elon Musk’s use of an arm gesture that clearly resembled a Roman salute, a greeting perhaps best known for its use among members of the Nazi Party, caused confusion and concern as the billionaire tech entrepreneur made comments during an inaugural celebration at Washington’s Capital One Arena.
The Roman salute is not original to the Nazi Party, but was repopularized by the group and other fascists used it often as a greeting. It has been used regularly by white nationalist groups, as noted by the League against defamation.
The owner of social media platform X, SpaceX and Tesla, made what CNN anchor Erin Burnett called a “strange-looking” salute.
“It went quickly. Our viewers are smart, and they can take a look at that. But it certainly was – it’s not something you normally see at an American political rally, let’s put it that way,” Burnett said.
Musk is known for his gesturing wildly on stage.
Monday seems to reach its peak Trump’s Inaugural AddressMusk told Trump supporters they had saved the world.
“This is what victory feels like,” he said, slamming his fists into a lectern with the presidential seal on it. “This was no ordinary victory. This was a fork in the road of human civilization. This – you know, there are elections, they come and go. There are elections; some are important, some are not. But this one, this one really mattered,” he said, laughing. “I just wanted to thank you for making this possible.”
There was a standing ovation before Musk then raised his right arm in the air at a skyward angle.
“My heart goes out to you. It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured. We will have safe cities, safe borders, sensible spending, basic things, and we are going to take DOGE to Mars!” Musk added, referring to a proposed Department of Government Efficiency that he expects him to co-lead.
Protect the free press
Support JS
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
He asked the crowd if they could imagine “how amazing it would be if American astronauts planted the flag on another planet for the first time?”