Elon Musk’s Far-Right German Party Event Appearance
Allison Bennett
Staff Writer
During United States President Donald Trump’s inaugural ceremony, Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk slapped his right hand on his chest before shooting his arm diagonally upwards, palm facing down, twice during his speech. Musk’s actions have sparked heavy debate, with observers arguing over how to interpret the action, many believing the arm movement appeared to be a Nazi salute.
NPR quotes U.S. Representative Jerry Nadler, D-NY, saying on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, which is owned by Musk, “I never imagined we would see the day when what appears to be a Heil Hitler salute would be made behind the Presidential seal.” Several Jewish organizations, including the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights organization, called out Musk, condemning his actions and asking for a clarification or apology for the gesture.
In Germany, gestures like the one Musk made are illegal, along with other symbols and slogans from the Nazi era, The New York Times reports. Following his actions, anti-Musk protestors projected an image of his salute with the words “Heil Tesla” onto the Telsa factory in Germany. German newspaper Die Zeit writes, “There is no need to make this unnecessarily complicated. Anyone who raises their arm in a swinging and diagonal manner several times during a political speech in front of a partly right-wing extremist audience is doing the Hitler salute.” Present at the inauguration were several far-right politicians from Germany, Italy, France, and Britain.
However, others challenge the Nazi interpretation of Musk’s actions, including the Anti-Defamation League, which calls itself a global leader in combating antisemitism and countering extremism. The organization posted on X, “It 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.” Musk himself made comments on X saying, “Don’t say Hess to Nazi accusations! Some people will Goebbels anything down,” referencing the names of prominent German Nazis. Musk continued with his tweets in an attempt to turn the controversy into a joke, though never specifically denying the Nazism allegations.
Five days after the inauguration and two days before International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Musk made a surprise appearance over a video call during Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) political party campaign. The AfDis a far right and populist party that is Eurosceptic, particularly opposing Muslim immigration into Germany and has been classified by the German judiciary as a “suspected extremist” party. During his appearance, Reuters quotes Musk saying that in Germany, “There is too much focus on past guilt, and we need to move beyond that.” The New York Times calls this “an apparent effort to wipe away the long shadow of the Nazis that has influences generations of Germans to quarantine extreme political parties from public life.” These comments came two days before official ceremonies in Poland that commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, one of the most significant days of memorial on the German calendar. Many critics in Germany have sharply criticized Musk’s words and their timing. In Musk’s support for the AfD, critics have claimed that he brushed aside years of “flirtations with Nazism” and other actions by Afd members that have led Germany’s mainstream political parties to unite in opposition against the organization.
Image courtesy of Getty Images.