Elon Musk's odd gesture blasted as 'Nazi salute' by social media users - 'holy s**t!'
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Elon Musk's weird gesture during a speech following the inauguration of Donald Trump has raised questions online. The SpaceX CEO made back-to-back gestures, compared to a Nazi salute, during a speech in front of jubilant Trump supporters in Washington DC. Much of his speech was supportive of Trump's vision for America with the tech billionaire taking particular interest in the president's pledge to take astronauts to Mars.
"Elections come and go, some are important and some are not, but this one really mattered and I just want to say thank you for making it happen," Musk told Trump supporters. He proceeded to place his right hand above his heart and quickly raise it toward the crowd.
Musk made the gesture twice in quick succession leading many on social media to brand it as a Nazi salute. A nine-second clip of Musk's speech was shared on social media by journalist Aaron Ruper with the caption "um" and has gone on to be viewed more than 756,000 times. One verified X/Twitter user said: "Did Elon Musk just do a Hitler salute.".
X user Mordred added: "holy s**t, elon musk just did the nazi salute on tv... at the president's inauguration..." X user wally b kleeposting addd: "Elon Musk casually doing a Hitler salute in front of millions. Right.". Many of the clips posted to social media were edited to remove the context of Musk's speech, which did not elude to Nazism. Others went on to downplay Musk's gesture with one verified user noting: "Tell me that you don't understand socially awkward people without telling me that you don't understand socially awkward people.".
