Elon Musk has responded to online backlash over a hand gesture he made at Donald Trump’s inauguration – which some have likened to a Nazi salute.
The multibillionaire drew controversy after he placed his right hand on his chest and then put his whole arm up in the air in front of him, while speaking at the Capital One Arena in Washington DC.
He told the crowd: “This is what victory feels like… Thank you for making it happen.”
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Many on X, the social media platform Musk owns, criticised the gesture saying it resembled a Nazi salute.
But responding to the accusations on Tuesday, Musk wrote on X: “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.”
The action sparked comment from the president of the Jewish community in Munich and Upper Bavaria, Charlotte Knobloch, who described the gesture as “highly irritating”.
While the Jerusalem Post – an English-language newspaper based in the capital of Israel – said: “Did Elon Musk Sieg Heil at Trump’s inauguration?”
Others came to Musk’s defence, claiming he was expressing the phrase “my heart goes out to you”.
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The Anti-Defamation League, a charity which tracks antisemitism, added it was an “awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm”.
The organisation added: “Not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge.”
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It comes as Musk has increasingly shifted to the right of politics.
He publicly backed the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), an anti-immigration, anti-Islamic party labelled as right-wing-extremist by German security services and showed support for jailed British far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
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The Tesla owner contributed around $200m (£162m) to the campaign to get Mr Trump elected for a second time.
He has since been made head of his newly created Department for Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The advisory group is not strictly part of the government – but is set to recommend major cuts to budgets and bureaucracy.
