Elon Musk at Trump’s inauguration: What’s the history of the Nazi salute? | Donald Trump News

Billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk’s hand gesture throughout a speech on United States President Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day has drawn widespread criticism and comparisons to a Nazi salute.

The proprietor of X and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla appeared at a rally for Trump’s supporters on Monday on the Capital One Enviornment in Washington, DC.

“This was no abnormal victory. This was a fork within the highway of human civilisation,” Musk mentioned throughout his speech.

“This one actually mattered. Thanks for making it occur! Thanks,” he mentioned.

Musk then touched the left aspect of his chest together with his proper hand and prolonged his arm upward, repeating the movement to the group behind him.

“My coronary heart goes out to you. It’s due to you that the way forward for civilisation is assured,” he mentioned as he completed the gesture.

Many took to social media to sentence the motion, describing it as harking back to a Nazi salute utilized by supporters of German dictator Adolf Hitler.

Musk slammed the criticism and wrote on X that “the ‘everyone seems to be Hitler’ assault is sooo drained.”

Right here’s what we all know in regards to the salute, its historical past and why Musk’s gesture has sparked controversy:

What’s the response to Musk’s salute?

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a professor of historical past and fascism at New York College, wrote on X that the gesture was a “Nazi salute – and a really belligerent one too”.

However the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which tracks anti-Semitism, disagreed with claims that Musk had carried out a Nazi salute and as an alternative mentioned the tech mogul had made an “awkward gesture in a second of enthusiasm”.

Aaron Astor, a historical past professor at Maryville School in Tennessee, supported the ADL’s place and mentioned on X that it was “not a Nazi salute”.

“This can be a socially awkward autistic man’s wave to the group the place he says ‘my coronary heart goes out to you,’” he added.

I’ve criticized Elon Musk many occasions for letting neo-Nazis pollute this platform. However this gesture shouldn’t be a Nazi salute. This can be a socially awkward autistic man’s wave to the group the place he says “my coronary heart goes out to you.” https://t.co/QWWiYHEI65

— Aaron Astor (@AstorAaron) January 20, 2025

Nevertheless, Musk’s actions seem to have enthused neo-Nazi and white nationalist teams.

Rolling Stone journal wrote that Christopher Pohlhaus, chief of the neo-Nazi group Blood Tribe, posted the video of Musk making the gesture on Telegram with the caption: “I don’t care if this was a mistake. I’m going to benefit from the tears over it.”

What’s the historical past behind the gesture?

The Nazi salute, also called the Heil Hitler salute, consisting of an outstretched proper arm with the palm down, was used as an official greeting in Nazi Germany.

However the gesture dates again to a salute that’s mentioned to have been utilized in historic Rome.

Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, who aimed to revive the nation to imperial Rome, adopted the gesture in 1925.

By 1926, the gesture was being utilized by members of the Nazi celebration in Germany, and its use was made obligatory throughout the celebration.

What’s the Bellamy salute?

In 1892, American Christian minister Francis Bellamy wrote the US Pledge of Allegiance to spice up patriotism.

Because the pledge rapidly turned in style, {a magazine} referred to as the Youth Companion, the place Bellamy labored, determined to create a salute to go along with the phrases.

Named the Bellamy salute, it consisted of a straight proper arm angled barely upward and a faced-down palm.

The salute continued for use throughout the US with no controversy till World Struggle II when the US entered the battle in opposition to the axis powers, together with Germany and Italy.

With discomfort rising within the US that the Bellamy salute may very well be misinterpreted as pledging allegiance to Hitler and Mussolini, the US Congress amended the Flag Code in December 1942, altering the salute to inserting a proper hand over the guts.

The place is the Nazi salute banned?

Shortly after World Struggle II, Germany banned the salute and any shows of Nazi insignia, that are punishable by three years in jail.

Austria additionally handed legal guidelines in opposition to the Nazi celebration and insignia shortly after the battle.

In January 2024, Australia banned the Nazi salute, Nazi swastika and double lightning bolt insignia related to the Schutzstaffel (SS) paramilitary group beneath Hitler.

In Canada, France and Switzerland, Nazi gestures will be thought of hate speech.

Nevertheless, within the US, salutes should not banned because of the First Modification of the US Structure, which protects freedom of speech and provides important protections to hate speech.

Has Musk backed figures with Nazi hyperlinks?

Musk prior to now has been accused of being smooth on anti-Semitism.

In 2023, Musk endorsed a put up on X that accused Jews of hating white individuals, describing that declare because the “precise reality”.

The ADL slammed Musk’s put up, calling it “profoundly disturbing” that Musk engaged with a “extremely poisonous, antisemitic marketing campaign on his platform”.

Musk later acknowledged that he and X had been against all types of anti-Semitism.

Nevertheless, in latest months, Musk has backed the far-right Different for Germany (AfD) celebration in February’s common election. In Might, AfD chief Bjorn Hocke was fined for saying, “All the pieces for Germany!” in a speech in 2021, a slogan utilized by Nazi paramilitary forces and now banned within the nation.

Musk has additionally backed the British far-right, anti-immigration celebration Reform UK. Earlier than the UK’s common election in July, a Reform UK candidate got here beneath hearth after he claimed that the nation would have been “much better” if it had taken Hitler’s “provide of neutrality” and never bought concerned in World Struggle II.

Musk can also be shut mates with right-wing Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who was as soon as a youth chief of the neo-fascist Italian Social Motion.