ELON Musk has hit back at his critics after he was accused of making a “Nazi salute” during a speech at Donald Trump’s inauguration rally.
The X and Tesla boss sparked outrage among many after some said he had made a stiff-armed Roman-style salute in front of Trump’s supporters.
Responding to the outcry, Musk accused his enemies of engaging in “dirty tricks” to try and smear him.
“The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired,” he added in a post on X, accompanying it with a sleeping emoji.
Musk made the apparent gesture while speaking at the Capital One Arena in Washington DC where he was addressing Trump’s supporters following the inauguration.
During the speech, he put his hand to his chest and said he felt it in his “heart.”
It comes as…
While speaking about his excitement at the prospect of America landing a man on Mars, the billionaire SpaceX boss pounded his chest with his right arm before raising it stiffly to the sky.
He then turned his back to the audience and repeated the gesture as he faced an American flag hanging behind him.
“It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured,” he told the gathered supporters.
The apparent gesture sparked immediate backlash and confusion among critics.
“You saw him come out with that odd-looking salute,” CNN anchor Erin Burnett said.
The Anti-Defamation League, an international non-governmental organization that fights antisemitism, bigotry, and discrimination, gave a cautious response to the gesture.
“This is a delicate moment,” it wrote on X. “It’s a new day and yet so many are on edge. Our politics are inflamed, and social media only adds to the anxiety.
“It seems that Elon Musk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge.
“In this moment, all sides should give one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt, and take a breath. This is a new beginning. Let’s hope for healing and work toward unity in the months and years ahead.”
Things you need to know about Elon Musk
ELON MUSK is the CEO of Tesla Motors, SpaceX, founder of The Boring Company, and co-founder of Neuralink and open AI
However, others pointed out that the gesture not only resembled a Nazi salute but also that his following remarks sounded unfortunately similar to the so-called “Fourteen Words,” a neo-Nazi slogan.
“Seeing a lot of people talking about Elon Musk’s seig heil (as they should) but not so many pointing out that what he says right afterward really sounded a lot like the 14 words,” one X user wrote.
“This wasn’t a ‘weird salute.’ It was a Hitler salute,” Holocaust historian Dr Waitman W Beorn wrote.
DARK ORIGINS
The Nazi salute, also known as the Hitler or Sieg Heil salute, was used as a common greeting in Germany under the Third Reich.
It was originally based on the so-called Roman salute and was adopted by the Italian Fascist Party, whose leadership under Benito Mussolini was a major inspiration to Adolf Hitler.
Its use is illegal in several countries today, including Germany, Austria, and Slovakia.
