An edited image of Elon Musk has been spotted plastered over a bus stop with the words ‘Tesla The Swasticar’ – it comes after campaigners have questioned whether he recently gestured a Nazi salute
Elon Musk leaves stage with son after delivering speech at Trump rally
Billionaire Elon Musk has been mocked in a huge advert displayed at a London bus stop re-branding Tesla.
Footage captured the anti-Tesla campaign which saw an advert removed at the shelter and replaced with an edited image of Musk. The poster appeared to show the SpaceX founder performing a Nazi salute. It read: “Goes From 0 to 1939 In 3 Seconds”.
The advert was filmed and posted on TikTok, causing a divide among users – with some joining in with the joke while others branded it extreme. In the widely-seen clip, Musk is placed into a Tesla which has been renamed as The Swasticar.
But this isn’t the only campaign group to mock the billionaire. A British political group recently projected an image of Musk making a hand gesture onto a German Tesla factory. The projection on the side of a Tesla Gigafactory in Berlin featured the words “Heil Tesla” – with an image of the electric car firm’s billionaire owner making the gesture during a speech celebrating new US president Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Musk’s speech at a rally on Monday saw him thank Trump’s supporters before slapping his hand on his chest and extending his arm straight outward and upward with his palm facing downwards. The projection was created by a campaign group Led By Donkeys alongside activist group Centre for Political Beauty in Germany, who claim Musk is using his wealth as a Tesla owner to “degrade democracy”.
A video also beamed onto the Tesla building compiled various screenshots of Musk’s tweets and videos, with a voiceover claiming the SpaceX owner supports far-right activists. A spokesperson for Led By Donkeys slammed the tech tycoon and said: “Musk is using his wealth from Tesla to back far-right parties and degrade democracy. He shouldn’t be surprised if people don’t fancy driving round in his cars for much longer. Increasingly it’s not a great look.”
Responding to claims the gesture was a Nazi salute, Musk posted on X: “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.” On Tuesday, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said Sir Keir Starmer would not be happy were any of his ministers to make a Nazi salute, but he would not be drawn into saying whether he believed Musk’s gesture was an example of it.
“It is clearly for the individual to defend his own actions,” the Prime Minister’s spokesman said. “When it comes to the Government’s position on these issues, you have heard the Prime Minister speak passionately about his visit to Auschwitz and our plans ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day.”