Did Elon Musk give a Nazi or Roman salute, and what’s the difference?
Share:
The Roman salute, which one historian argues was invented in the 19th century, was adopted by Benito Mussolini. The back-to-back gestures were swift and enthusiastic, and they elicited huge cheers from the crowd. After Elon Musk ignited controversy with two fascist-style salutes during Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration, critics accused him of giving the Nazi salute.
Some of Musk’s supporters rushed to defend him, explaining that he had instead been giving the Roman salute. “The Roman empire is back, starting with the Roman salute,” Andrea Stroppa, a Rome-based adviser to Musk, wrote on in a post that he later deleted.
We delve into what is meant by the Roman salute, whether it’s different from the Nazi salute, and how this distinction has been seemingly promoted by the far right in recent years. Stroppa later posted that the gesture was “simply Elon, who has autism, expressing his feelings by saying ‘I want to give my heart to you,’”.
Others also weighed in. The Anti-Defamation League said on social media that Musk’s gesture had not been a Nazi salute. Instead, it said Musk had “made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm,” in a post that added: “All sides should give one another a bit of grace.”.
A number of historians countered that view. “It was a Nazi salute and a very belligerent one too,” Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a professor of history and Italian studies at New York University, wrote on social media. Claire Aubin, who researches nazism in the US, echoed Ben-Ghiat’s sentiment. “My professional opinion is that you’re all right, you should believe your eyes,” she wrote online.
