Photo: Getty Images
Billionaire Elon Musk went viral after making a gesture that many claimed resembled a nazi salute during a rally for President Donald Trump after his inauguration Monday (January 20) afternoon.
Musk, 53, gave a speech at the Capitol One Arena to celebrate Trump taking office and got extremely excited while discussing the prospect of landing a man on Mars and planting an American flag, at which point he pounded his chest and threw his right arm in an angular motion toward the sky and claimed he felt it in his "heart" before turning his back to the audience and repeating the gesture towards the American flag hanging over the stage behind him.
“Standing ovation for Elon Musk. By far the biggest reception of the day,” said CNN anchor Erin Burnett during a live broadcast. “You saw him come out with that odd-looking salute.”
“It was odd-looking,” Burnett reiterated before the broadcast showed viewers a screenshot of the incident.
The Anti-Defamation League, a non-governmental organization founded to combat antisemitism, claimed that Musk was not making a nazi saluted, rather "an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm."
"This is a delicate moment. It’s a new day and yet so many are on edge. Our politics are inflamed, and social media only adds to the anxiety," the group wrote on X, the social media platform owned by Musk. "It seems that @elonmusk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge. In this moment, all sides should give one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt, and take a breath. This is a new beginning. Let’s hope for healing and work toward unity in the months and years ahead."
Musk, who was selected alongside Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the new "Department of Government Efficiency, was one of Trump's fiercest supporters during his second successful presidential campaign, appearing at numerous rallies and publicly pledging to give away $1 million to supporters who signed his online petition to register voters leading up to the election.