Elon Musk has finally responded to claims he allegedly gave a ‘Nazi salute’ during his speech at Donald Trump’s inauguration last week
Elon Musk has responded to claims he allegedly made a ‘Nazi salute’ during new US President Donald Trump’s inauguration last week.
It comes after British comedian Jimmy Carr posted a video to X, formerly known as Twitter, discussing Musk’s controversial arm gesture as he took to the stage to give a speech at Washington DC’s Capital One Arena as Trump was sworn in.
In the short clip from one of his stand up shows, which he titled ‘What do I think of Elon Musk?’, Carr asked his 6.4 million followers: “Did you watch the inauguration? So people are saying that Elon Musk did a Nazi salute. And all the debate online is – is Elon Musk a Nazi? Is Elon Musk autistic?” Fans are heard laughing in the audience as Carr continued: “Can’t he be both?”
The 52-year-old went on to say: “There’s a lot of crossover – autistics and Nazis. They both love trains.” He added: “For the record, Elon Musk is not a f***ing Nazi. It’s just the internet goes ‘he’s a Nazi’ almost immediately. He’s a f***ing genius. And Neal Brennan, my friend, pointed this out brilliantly in his last special, Crazy Good, if you’re a genius, there’s a little Salt Bae of f***ing crazy that comes with it. And he’s maybe a little bit crazy, but he’s not a f***ing Nazi.”
Recounting his own personal experience of meeting billionaire and X owner Musk, Carr said: “He’s alright, I’ve met him, he was a very nice fella. Great sense of humour. I tell you what, I’ll prove it. I’ll post this on X and we won’t have a problem.” He then joked: “I f***ing hope! If I disappear though, you know who did it.”
And sure enough, 53-year-old Musk – who also owns Tesla and SpaceX and is the world’s richest man – saw the funny side and posted a laughing face with crying tears emoji in reply to Carr’s video.
Musk left many shocked as he put his hand on his chest, then stretched out his arm with an open hand during his speech at Trump’s presidential ceremony on January 20. 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.
On Musk’s 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…” A third user added: “Elon Musk casually doing a Hitler salute in front of millions. Right.” While others have suggested he was merely gesturing that his “heart goes out” to the crowd.
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. Musk then retweeted the post writing: “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.”
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