Neo-Nazis are celebrating Elon Musk giving two Nazi salutes during a speech to tens of thousands of President Donald Trump’s supporters on Monday.
“Elections come and go, some elections are important, some are not, but this one really mattered,” Musk said during his speech inside the Capital One Arena in Washington DC, hours after Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. . “And I just want to say thank you for making it possible. Thank you.”
At this point, Musk placed his right hand on his chest before extending it outward with his palm facing down and fingers touching, a gesture widely recognized as the “Roman salute.” Adopted by the fascist movement a century ago, it was used primarily by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Germany, and to this day is associated with the fascist right, especially in Italy.
After making the gesture for the first time, Musk turned to members of the crowd sitting behind him and, with his back to the camera, repeated the gesture.
“My heart goes out to you,” Musk added.
Musk later shared a clip of his speech on clip posted by Musk shows a shot of the audience before returning to show him doing the second salute.
Musk, X and the Trump administration did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The response from the neo-Nazi community around the world was instantaneous and unanimous.
“Amazing things are already happening,” Andrew Torba, founder of Gab, a social media platform popular with anti-Semites and white supremacists, wrote over a photo of Musk waving.
“The whole neo-Nazi movement seems to be eating it up,” says Nick Martin, an investigative journalist who closely follows extremist groups and runs the online publication. The informant. “He gave two unmistakable Nazi salutes and they got the message loud and clear.”
“WE ARE FUCKING BACK,” wrote the administrator of a Nazi meme channel on Telegram under a clip of Musk waving. The group members responded with the lightning bolt emoji, a well-known neo-nazi reference to the SS.
“I don’t care if this was a mistake, I’m going to enjoy the tears over it,” said Christopher Pohlhaus, the group’s leader. American neo-Nazi group Blood Tribehe wrote on his Telegram channel under a gif of Musk’s greeting.
Keith Wood, a prominent far-right influencer from Ireland who has repeatedly praised Musk, responded to the actions by writing on X: “Okay, maybe woke really is dead.”
Evan Kilgore, a right-wing political commentator, wrote on Kilgore later wrote, “We’re back.”
Kilgore, who He is a holocaust denier.She has worked as an ambassador for Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA. The conservative activist group hosted a pre-inauguration dance Sunday night featuring JD Vance, who was sworn in as vice president today, and the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr.
Musk has embraced far-right ideology and figures around the world, including jailed Islamophobic activist Tommy Robinson in the United Kingdom, over the past two years. More recently, he has promoted the far-right German political party Alternative for Germany. In an hour-long interview with party leader Alice Weidel earlier this month, Musk agreed with the wild conspiracy theory that Hitler was a communist.