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If a person did not mean to make a Nazi salute, but made something that looked just like a Nazi salute in front of a giant crowd and a worldwide television audience, a logical first step to clarifying the situation might be denying that that gesture was a Nazi salute. Elon Musk<\/strong> has not done that<\/a>. Instead, he called the characterizations of a certain Sieg Heil<\/em>-flavored gesture he made multiple times at the bizarre indoor \u201cinaugural parade\u201d<\/a> for newly sworn-in Felon-in-Chief Donald Trump<\/strong> Monday afternoon \u201csooo tired.\u201d He included a snoozy emoji too, in case those extra o\u2019s weren\u2019t doing it.<\/p>\n This content can also be viewed on the site it originates<\/a> from.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n On X (formerly Twitter), the social media platform that he owns, Musk responded Monday evening to the brouhaha<\/a> over the full-arm gesture, which he made multiple times from the stage of the Capital One Arena, but did not offer a nein<\/em> to the Nazi accusations.<\/p>\n \u201cFrankly, they need better dirty tricks,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThe \u2018everyone is Hitler\u2019 attack is sooo tired.\u201d<\/p>\n The thing is, people weren\u2019t calling him<\/em> Hitler. They were saying that he made a gesture that people who really dig Hitler typically make. It would be very easy to just plainly say that that wasn\u2019t the intention, but Musk just let that pass.<\/p>\n Holocaust deniers and openly self-identified Neo-Nazis were thrilled<\/a> to see the tech mogul and DOGE Head DOGE-er<\/a> appear to acknowledge them.<\/p>\n Far-right political commentator Evan Kilgore<\/strong> tweeted a clip of the moment<\/a> Monday, writing, \u201cHoly crap…Did @elonmusk just Heil Hitler at the Trump Inauguration Rally in Washington D.C…This is incredible.\u201d He added two fire emojis for good measure, and followed up in another tweet: \u201cWe are so back,\u201d appending a\u2014wait for it\u2014saluting emoji. Oh.<\/p>\n In his replies, Kilgore repeatedly insisted that \u201cit\u2019s a joke\u201d and that \u201cwe all know that wasn\u2019t his intention.\u201d Do\u2026we? Also on Monday, he tweeted<\/a>, \u201cElon Musk is autistic. He was excited. We all know his intentions weren’t to make a Sieg Heil. It looked much more like a Roman Salute. Can we all have a sense of humor for 5 seconds?\u201d<\/p>\n (Incidentally, Musk first opened up about his neurodivergence on Saturday Night Live<\/em> in 2021.)<\/p>\n The twist: The Roman Salute was also known as the Fascist Salute, and was later adopted by\u2014you guessed it!\u2014the Nazis.<\/p>\n On Tuesday morning<\/a>, Kilgore posted again, insisting that the motion \u201cwas out of excitement and autism\u201d and called those conflating it with the Nazi gesture \u201cretarded.\u201d<\/p>\n The Anti-Defamation League also leaped to Musk\u2019s defense in a post on X<\/a>, hedging and calling the times \u201ca delicate moment\u201d and urging followers to give him \u201cthe benefit of the doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt seems that @elonmusk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge,\u201d the anti-hate group wrote on Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n This content can also be viewed on the site it originates<\/a> from.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nX content<\/h4>\n
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