Tech billionaire Elon Musk has come under fire after making hand gestures resembling the Nazi salute during a speech celebrating the US presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, reports Al Jazeera.
Addressing Trump supporters’ hours after the Republican was inaugurated as the 47th US president on Monday, the billionaire hailed the outcome of the November 4 election as “no ordinary victory”.
“This was a fork in the road of human civilisation,” Musk said at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC.
“This one really mattered. Thank you for making it happen! Thank you.”
Musk then slapped his right hand on his chest before extending his arm at an upward angle with his palm down and fingers together.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO, who has been tasked with leading the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency in Trump’s administration, then turned around to face the crowd behind him and repeated the gesture.
Musk’s actions drew immediate scrutiny online, with some social media users accusing him of giving the infamous Sieg Heil salute associated with Adolf Hitler.
“I never imagined we would see the day when what appears to be a Heil Hitler salute would be made behind the Presidential seal,” Jerry Nadler, a Democratic congressman from New York, said in a post on X.
“This abhorrent gesture has no place in our society and belongs in the darkest chapters of human history. I urge all of my colleagues to unite in condemning this hateful gesture for what it is: antisemitism.”
Musk’s gesture, which received praise from a number of US-based neo-Nazis, also garnered attention in the Israeli media, with the newspaper Haaretz saying Musk appeared to have given a “‘Roman salute,’ a fascist salute most commonly associated with Nazi Germany”.
Responding to the controversy, Musk said his critics needed “better dirty tricks”.
“The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired,” Musk said in an X post that included a sleepy face emoji.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
