Elon Musk and his chequered past of Nazi references: Hand gesture at Trump rally to Alice Weidel interview

Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur and owner of X, has faced repeated scrutiny for his controversial engagements involving Nazi references

Published on: Jan 21, 2025, 10:57:00 IST

By Sanya Jain

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Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur and owner of X, has faced repeated scrutiny for his controversial engagements involving Nazi references and far-right politics. Most recently, Musk has come under scrutiny for his hand gesture at Donald Trump’s rally on January 20, which many compared to the Nazi salute.

Musk has come under scrutiny for his hand gesture at Donald Trump’s rally

Musk appeared to give a fascist-style salute at the podium, raising one hand to eye level. The incident at Trump’s rally is not the first time Musk has found himself embroiled in controversy over Nazi-related symbolism and rhetoric. The world’s richest man recently raised eyebrows when he endorsed Germany's far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party while criticising other world leaders like those of UK and France.

Here is a brief overview of Musk’s past entanglement with Nazi controversies:

Alice Weidel interview

In the second week of January 2025, Musk hosted a live chat with Germany’s far-right candidate Alice Weidel on his X social media site, which basically amounted to an endorsement of her AfD party. According to Bloomberg, the X spaces event was Musk’s latest foray into European politics, where he has become a loud advocate for far-right parties.

Pro-Nazi content on X

As the owner of X, one of the world’s most widely used social media networks, Musk holds extraordinary power in shaping public discourse. However, since his takeover of X (formerly Twitter), critics have noted how pro-Nazi content has flourished on the platform.

An April 2024 report from NBC News found at least 150 paid “Premium” or verified X accounts amplifying Nazi propaganda. Musk had also reinstated the X accounts of prominent neo-Nazis Andrew Anglin and Nick Fuentes.

Hitler comparison and Musk’s reaction

In October 2024, German magazine Der Spiegel equated Musk to Adolf Hitler, calling him a public enemy. The Tesla boss responded with Nazi wordplay.

“Well, I did Nazi that coming! Those fools will Goebbels anything down… I bet their pronouns are He/Himmler!” he wrote.

Visiting Auschwitz

In what was widely perceived as a redemptive gesture for past accusations of antisemitism, Elon Musk visited the site of the Nazi death camp Auschwitz in January 2024. Musk laid a wreath at the wall of death and also participated in a memorial ceremony.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sanya Jain
Sanya Jain is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times Digital. She has nearly a decade of experience in covering offbeat stories that speak to the everyday experience - from viral videos to human interest copies that spark conversation. Her interests stretch across business, pop culture, social media trends, entertainment and global affairs. Before joining Hindustan Times, Sanya spent two years with Moneycontrol and five years with NDTV. She holds an undergraduate degree in English literature from St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and a master’s in journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai. Sanya has a sharp eye for spotting emerging trends and looking for newsworthy angles to elevate viral posts into meaningful narratives. She was the first one, for example, to cover Narayana Murthy’s remark on 70-hour work weeks that sparked a national conversation. She is equally at ease writing about business leaders as about the common man, about issues of national importance and memes that amuse social media. Sanya enjoys speaking with content creators, newsmakers and entrepreneurs to transform everyday moments into engaging, slice-of-life stories that resonate with readers. When she is not working, Sanya can be found curled up with a good book. Born and raised in Lucknow, she has spent the last several years in Delhi. She is deeply interested in animal welfare and now spends a lot of her time running after her destructive orange cat.Read More

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