Updated January 24, 2025 at 05:02 AM ET
As the debate continues about what billionaire Trump ally Elon Musk intended when he made straight-arm gestures at an inauguration event, Musk posted a series of Nazi-themed puns on Thursday to his more than 200 million followers on X, the social media platform he owns.
"Don't say Hess to Nazi accusations! Some people will Goebbels anything down!" Musk wrote, referencing the names of prominent German Nazis.
On Inauguration Day, Musk was less than a minute into his speech at Washington's Capital One Arena when he thanked the crowd for their help electing President Trump. He slapped his right hand over his heart and swung it out straight ahead with his palm facing down. He turned around and repeated the motion. He then said, "My heart goes out to you. It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured."
The incident only lasted seconds, but it sparked what has become a global debate about how to interpret what Musk did. To many observers, Musk's arm movement appeared to be a Nazi salute.
"I never imagined we would see the day when what appears to be a Heil Hitler salute would be made behind the Presidential seal," U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) wrote on X. A number of Jewish organizations condemned Musk's actions. The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights organization, called on Musk to clarify or apologize for the gesture.
But others challenged that interpretation, including the Anti-Defamation League, which calls itself a global leader in combating antisemitism and countering extremism.
"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," the organization posted.
Several voices on the right condemned any comparisons to a Nazi salute — as well as media coverage of the episode — as an attempt to smear Musk.
"These people are so thirsty for controversy and racism — that doesn't exist — it's astounding," pro-Trump influencer Charlie Kirk wrote on X.
Musk didn't respond to a request for comment. In a Monday night X post, he called the uproar Democratic "dirty tricks" and added, "The 'everyone is Hitler' attack is sooo tired."
By Thursday morning, Musk had shifted into joke mode. In addition to his Nazi puns, he ridiculed "radical leftists" who can't take a joke and posted: "When I see the troll emoji, it's like looking in the mirror."
In a reply to Musk's Nazi puns, right-wing influencer Dave Rubin quipped, "Humor is the fascist way to defeat these people!" Musk responded, "They can't stand being mocked."
Using humor to say things previously considered off limits, or to intentionally spark an outcry, is a component of internet culture that some on the right have long embraced.
"That tactic is designed to sort of keep pushing the norm of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable," said Shannon McGregor, a communications professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
McGregor said the end goal of this shock jock approach, sometimes referred to as edgelording, is to push social boundaries "to the point where the idea is, nothing matters. And if nothing matters, then there are no norms."
Musk's Nazi-themed jokes were criticized by Jonathan Greenblatt, the executive director of the Anti-Defamation League, which had come to Musk's defense just days earlier. The organization has faced blowback from critics who said it should have condemned Musk's gesture.
"We've said it hundreds of times before and we will say it again: the Holocaust was a singularly evil event, and it is inappropriate and offensive to make light of it," Greenblatt wrote on X on Thursday. "@elonmusk, the Holocaust is not a joke."
'Strategic ambiguity'
Setting aside what Musk meant by his arm gesture on Monday, McGregor says he benefits from the fact that people of different political persuasions see the arm gesture totally differently.
"This what I would say not necessarily unambiguous gesture really has the hallmarks of what we call strategic ambiguity, which is something that's also often employed by those on the right," McGregor said. "It's aimed at different audiences who might interpret it differently. But the communicator stands to gain something from that."
Musk, who has frequently sparred with media outlets, slammed coverage of the controversy. "The legacy media is pure propaganda," he posted on Tuesday. He repeated a phrase he used right after President Trump's victory, telling X users: "You are the media now."
"If you're on the right, this is sort of the bona fides of being attacked by the left, being attacked by the mainstream media, while at the same time normalizing something that is a really far-right gesture," McGregor said.
Andrew Torba, the founder of the far-right social platform Gab, praised the "Elon salute" in a post, calling it a "masterclass in political strategy" because it provoked what Torba called an "overreaction" by the media. He said the incident "exposes the media's vulnerabilities, undermines their authority, and advances our agenda all at once."
The debate over what Musk did and what he meant by it has energized far-right figures including Torba, said Melissa Ryan, who tracks right-wing extremism in her newsletter, "Ctrl Alt Right Delete."
"They're thrilled that the attention is on them," said Ryan, who is also a founding partner of Inviolable Group, which helps nonprofit and advocacy organizations build resilience against threats.
She considers Musk himself a far-right figure, citing his past posts sharing racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories as well as his recent endorsement of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany, or AfD, political party in Germany.
Ryan has no doubt the gesture was a Nazi salute, despite what Musk and his allies say.
"The fact that we are discussing and debating it rather than calling it out, that is a net positive for them because they are trying to make their extreme ideology more mainstream," Ryan said. "As long as we're having the debate, it makes it easier for the next person to insert hateful ideology into the discourse."
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