Elon Musk was accused of performing a Nazi salute at Donald Trump’s inauguration but denied the claims saying those who criticise him ‘need better dirty tricks’

Elon Musk has spoken out after his arm gesture during Donald Trump’s inauguration was likened to a Nazi salute.

The SpaceX CEO, 53, made back-to-back gestures as he gave a speech at Washington DC’s Capital One Arena. He told Trump supporters: “Elections come and go, some are important and some are not, but this one really mattered and I just want to say thank you for making it happen.”

After that, he left many shocked as he put his hand on his chest, then stretched out his arm with an open hand. He made the gesture twice in quick succession and to many it appeared the tech billionaire had performed a fascist salute – familiar to most from their use by the Nazis in reverence to Adolf Hitler.

Elon Musk’s gesture was compared to a Nazi salute ( 
Image:
AFP via Getty Images)
On his own social media platform X, users questioned what the gesture meant. One wrote: “Did Elon Musk just do a Hitler salute.” Another added: “holy s**t, elon musk just did the nazi salute on tv… at the president’s inauguration…”

One more user added: “Elon Musk casually doing a Hitler salute in front of millions. Right.” Others have suggested he was merely gesturing that his “heart goes out” to the crowd.

Musk responded to the controversy on X
But hours after the accusations emerged, an account called ‘The Rabbit Hole’ re-shared a tweet Musk had written ahead of the US election, which read: “In the past I voted Democrat, because they were (mostly) the kindness party. But they have become the party of division & hate, so I can no longer support them and will vote Republican. Now, watch their dirty tricks campaign against me unfold … ” The Rabbit Hole wrote that the “salute hoax” was just “another part of the ‘dirty tricks campaign'” Musk had previously mentioned.

And Musk retweeted the post, issuing a response to the accusation that he did a Nazi salute, writing: “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.” Musk shared a video of his speech on his X account – but the controversial moment was replaced by a crowd shot.

Musk said those who criticised him ‘need better dirty tricks’ ( 
Image:
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Last week, Musk hosted an online interview with Alice Weidel, the leader of AfD, Germany’s far-right party. During the exchange, Weidel made the repeatedly debunked the claim that Hitler wasn’t far-right, but a communist or socialist – to which Musk agreed.

“The biggest success after that terrible era in our history was to label Adolf Hitler as right[-wing] and conservative, he was exactly the opposite,” Weidel said. “He wasn’t a conservative, he wasn’t a libertarian, he was a communist, socialist guy, and we are the opposite.” Musk replied: “Right.” Musk has often praised AfD, saying it is the only party that “can save Germany.”