The legacy media has a new target in its crosshairs: Elon Musk. Following his appearance at Donald Trump’s inauguration rally on January 20, 2025, at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC, outlets and commentators pounced on a single gesture—claiming it was a Nazi salute. The accusation is as absurd as it is predictable, relying on cherry-picked optics over context. Let’s break it down, look at the evidence, and see how this narrative falls apart.
The Media’s Most Egregious Claims
Some of the loudest voices didn’t hold back in painting Musk as a fascist. Take Newsweek, which ran the headline: “Elon Musk’s Nazi Salute at Trump Rally Sparks Outrage” (January 21, 2025). The article described Musk’s gesture—placing his hand on his chest before extending it upward—as “eerily reminiscent of Hitler’s Sieg Heil,” quoting a single “body language expert” with no evidence of intent. Even more inflammatory, The Daily Beast went with “Musk Channels Third Reich Vibes at Inauguration” (January 20, 2025), suggesting his “chilling” arm motion was a dog whistle to extremists, despite offering no proof beyond the visual.
Well-known outlets weren’t much better. The New York Times published “Musk’s Gesture Raises Eyebrows at Trump Event” (January 21, 2025), with historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat calling it “a very belligerent Nazi salute” and tying it to “fascist aesthetics.” PBS, ever the voice of establishment sobriety, aired a segment titled “Elon Musk’s Controversial Salute: Fascism or Flub?” (January 22, 2025), where pundits debated whether it “appeared to be a fascist signal.” These claims, from sensationalist rags to respected names, share one flaw: they leap from a split-second gesture to a full-blown ideology without evidence.
The Actual Video Tells a Different Story
Let’s cut through the noise with the facts. Here’s the moment in question:
Watch it. At around the 14s mark, Musk says, “Thank you for making it happen. My heart goes out to you,” while placing his hand on his chest and extending it outward—twice. He’s smiling, animated, and addressing a cheering crowd. Does this look like the rigid, deliberate “Sieg Heil” salute of Nazi propaganda reels? Hardly. It’s a spontaneous gesture of gratitude, not a coded message. The media’s still frames—like this one from Newsweek—strip away that context:
Compare that to the video. The difference is night and day. Musk himself took to X, reposting the clip with, “Legacy media calls this a Nazi salute. I call it thanking the crowd. They see Hitler everywhere—it’s their new business model.” He’s not wrong.
Gestures Aren’t Exclusive to Nazis
Here’s the kicker: plenty of public figures have made similar moves without being branded Third Reich devotees. Check these out:
- Barack Obama:
Seen here in January 2010, was from a Republican GOP House Issues Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, Obama’s arm is outstretched. No one cried “Nazi.”
Kamala Harris:
Harris, mid-speech, emphasizes a point. Just a wave, right?
Hillary Clinton:
Clinton gestures to the audience. Dog whistle? Nope.
Elizabeth Warren:
Warren, caught mid-rant. Fascist salute? Please.
These moments, often shared on X by users like @EndWokeness or @libsoftiktok to mock the Musk outrage, show a simple truth: arm gestures are common in public speaking. Context—not just optics—defines their meaning. Yet when neo-Nazi groups cheered Musk’s move (as WIRED noted, “Far-Right Sees Musk Salute as Victory,” January 20, 2025), the media ran with guilt-by-association instead of intent.
Musk’s Life Rejects the Label
Musk’s no extremist. He’s said on X, “I’m a technologist, not a tribalist—hate slows progress” (February 2025). His companies—SpaceX, Tesla—push universal goals, not racial purity. “We’re building the future for everyone,” he posted in 2024. Tesla’s diverse team and SpaceX’s multiplanetary vision laugh in Nazism’s face. Kanye West (“Elon’s not that guy,” X, January 23, 2025) and Vivek Ramaswamy (WSJ, January 25, 2025) back him up.
History and Hypocrisy
Raised arms predate Hitler—Roman salutes, blessings, waves. @Cernovich on X: “Media acts like Nazis invented it. Context is king.” The real pattern? Media overreach. They’ve called Musk “far-right” before, now “Nazi.” @IanMilesCheong nailed it: “Next week, something else.” If everything’s Hitler, nothing is.
The Smear Unravels
The Nazi label hinges on a flimsy tripod: a decontextualized gesture, historical hyperbole, and bad faith. Musk’s no saint—his politics and X posts ruffle feathers—but equating him to Hitler over this is a stretch only a desperate narrative could make. The Daily Beast and Newsweek thrive on clicks, not truth. Even the NYT and PBS, with their veneer of credibility, lean on speculation over substance. Meanwhile, X users like
@JackPosobiec have called it “the everyone-is-Hitler playbook,” and they’re onto something.
This isn’t about defending Musk’s every move. It’s about rejecting media lies that twist reality to fit a script. The video and comparisons speak for themselves. You decide what’s real.