'What did he just do?' Elon Musk sends hate groups 'buzzing' with 'Roman salute' at Trump rally

20 January

After President Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term by U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts on Monday, January 20, 2025, a variety of Inauguration Day activities followed—including a MAGA rally at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

The speakers included Kash Patel (Trump's controversial pick for FBI director) and Tesla/SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who Trump has tapped to lead a new advisory board that would be called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) along with MAGA businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.

Musk was greeted with enthusiastic applause from MAGA Republicans in the arena. But something he did with right arm is drawing biting comments on the social media platform that he owns: X, formerly Twitter.

After thanking the Trump supporters in the crowd, Musk placed his right hand on his chest before lifting his arm in what some X users are comparing to a Nazi salute.

Journalist Oscar Gonzalez remarked, "Going to see a few more of these salutes soon enough."

Eric Feigl-Ding of the New England Complex Systems Institute (NECSI) tweeted, "My god… Musk just did the N*zi Salute live on TV."

In a separate tweet, Feigl-Ding posted, "Folks — see for yourself. Looked like the 3rd Reich salute to me."

Financial Times' Christopher Miller tweeted an image of Musk with his right arm in the air and wrote, "Elon Musk just did this salute on live national TV."

Journalist Aaron Rupar wrote, "Um." And the Daily Beast posted, "What the hell was that salute?"

Sheldon Miller of Stocks Global posted, "Yeah, saw that too. Anyone with a shred of empathy for the Holocaust would never go near making such a gesture, for fear of misinterpretation. It is illegal in Germany to make this gesture and will result in a fine or imprisonment…currently. Musk, the boy from apartheid South Africa, knows exactly what he is doing, he continues to flirt with the far right, to encourage & empower the movement.

Harry Sisson tweeted, "WTF?? What did Elon Musk just do??"

Reporter Phil Williams weighed in as well, tweeting, "WOW! Checking in on hate group chats, and they are absolutely buzzing by what they perceive to be a Roman salute by Elon Musk."

But some X users complained that the video of Musk needs "context" for explanation.

Bruce Macklin tweeted, " Post Conversation Burt Macklin @BurtMaclin_FBI To provide some more context to the video going around of @elonmusk , he says “my heart goes out to you”.

Tom McMurty posted, " Did the chest thump to the heart and then sent it out to everyone and then said my heart goes out to you. However it is a faux par in terms of action for video clipping like this

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