Overview

Elon Musk "Sieg Heil" Salute at Donald Trump Inauguration, also known as the Elon Musk Nazi Salute, refers to a moment during a rally held after the 2025 U.S. Presidential Inauguration of Donald Trump where Elon Musk performed a gesture in which he placed his hand over his heart and then extended his arm outward with his hand flat before turning around and repeating it toward the American flag. Many interpreted the gesture as a "Sieg Heil" salute, infamously used by the German Nazi Party to salute Adolf Hitler. Others attributed the gesture as related to his line, "My heart goes out to you," which he stated immediately afterward, inferring that he meant to signal giving his heart to the audience. Those who perceived it as a Nazi salute sparked viral discourse and memes on social media sites like Twitter / X after the video went viral shortly after. Many people jokingly debated whether Musk was autistic, a Nazi or both. Some believed that Musk was doing a "Roman" salute, often referred to as a "Fascist" salute, which is the original gesture that the German Nazi Party adopted.

Background

On January 20th, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump was inaugurated in Washington, D.C. During one moment, billionaire Elon Musk, presented as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), took the stage and performed a gesture by placing his hand over his heart before extending it out into the air with a flat hand toward the audience, turning and doing it again aimed at the flag. Shortly after this, many perceived that Musk did a "Sieg Heil" salute, infamously used by the German Nazi Party to salute Adolf Hitler, sparking media coverage and controversy.^[1]

A clip of the moment was tweeted by X^[2] user @atrupar on January 20th, who captioned it, "um," receiving over 11 million views and 49,000 likes in two hours (shown below).

um pic.twitter.com/ISwJiM4EsH

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 20, 2025

Another angle of him doing the motion was shared by X^[7] user @patriottakes on January 20th, showing Musk doing the motion twice. The video received over 2.7 million views and 29,000 likes in two hours (shown below).

Elon Musk gave two back to back Nazi salutes at the Trump inauguration parade pic.twitter.com/0ImFnvk6hI

— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) January 20, 2025

Online Reactions

The clip was tweeted by multiple people on January 20th, 2025, like X^[3] user @KahliefAdams who said, "That is 1000% a Nazi salute being given behind the presidential podium on Inauguration Day (also MLK day) by the richest person on the planet. That moment will live in infamy." The tweet received over 56,000 likes in two hours (shown below).

That is 1000% a Nazi salute being given behind the presidential podium on Inauguration Day (also MLK day) by the richest person on the planet. That moment will live in infamy. pic.twitter.com/dkfVMC5Fpk

— Kahlief "Positivity Peddler” Adams (@KahliefAdams) January 20, 2025

X^[4] user @harryjsisson also tweeted the clip on January 20th, writing, "WTF?? What did Elon Musk just do??" receiving over 14,000 likes in two hours. Also that day, the clip was posted to the subreddit /r/interestingasfuck^[18] under the title "Elon Musk Sieg Heiling during his speech," receiving over 209,000 upvotes and 26,000 comments in 20 hours.

On January 20th, 2025, X^[5] user @beatmastermatt tweeted a screencap of the moment, captioning it, "And the Trump presidency begins with the richest person in the world giving a Nazi salute," gaining over 53,000 likes in two hours (shown below).

Also on January 20th, X^[6] user @FoxfordComics tweeted a spoof Fallenchungus webcomic showing Trump and Musk, based on a precursor comic making fun of Elon Musk Jumping behind Donald Trump. The meme received over 29,000 likes in two hours (shown below).

The incident also amassed viral memes on Reddit, like a meme shared by Redditor^[15] facthungry to the subreddit /r/dankmemes on January 20th, 2025, which used the Hey Friend Listen / It's Gonna Get Way Worse meme template, gaining over 1,300 upvotes in a day (shown below).

On January 20th, X^[10] user @AstorAaron quote tweeted the video and argued, "This gesture is not a Nazi salute. This is a socially awkward autistic man's wave to the crowd…" receiving over 78,000 likes in a day (shown below).

The idea that Musk's social awkwardness and alleged autism caused the apparent Nazi salute sparked criticism and memes in the following days. For instance, on January 21st, 2025, X^[11] user @TheIDSmiths tweeted about "studying footage of the Nuremberg Rallies" only to discover they all had autism, receiving over 4,700 likes in a few hours (shown below).

On January 20th, the Anti-Defamation League (AFL) posted a tweet to its official X^[8] account describing Musk's hand movement as an "awkward gesture," gathering over 17,000 likes in a few hours (shown below).

The tweet amassed viral reactions and criticism, like a quote tweet^[12] shared by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on January 20th, 2025, who said, "People can officially stop listening to you as any sort of reputable source of information now. You work for them. Thank you for making that crystal clear to all," amassing over 271,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Rolling Stone^[9] published an article on January 20th, citing several white supremacists and neo-Nazi groups on Telegram that reportedly shared the video of Musk making the gesture in appreciation. An excerpt from the article, titled, "Right-Wing Extremists Are Abuzz Over Musk’s Straight-Arm Salute," is shown below.

Christopher Pohlhaus, the leader of the notorious neo-Nazi group Blood Tribe, posted the clip of Musk’s salute on Telegram with a lightning-bolt emoji (evocative of the Nazi SS) and the caption: "I don’t care if this was a mistake. I’m going to enjoy the tears over it."
Another neo-Nazi leader, Christopher Hood, who founded the New England race-separatist movement NSC-131, also posted the clip to Telegram with the emojis ⁉️and 😁.

In the aftermath, some internet users shared photos of other U.S. political and business leaders making gestures resembling the "Sieg Heil" salute. For instance, on January 20th, 2025, the X^[13] account Libs of TikTok tweeted a collage of Democrat leaders like former President Barack Obama and former VP Kamala Harris with their arms extended, writing, "Can someone direct me to the articles where the media expressed outrage over this? Can’t find any…" The tweet received over 30,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Posts like the abovementioned tweet received criticism, like in a tweet shared by X^[14] user @esjesjesj on January 20th, who said, "There's a reason they never show the actual videos of these," gaining over 312,000 likes in a day (shown below).

"Roman" Salute Discourse

Discourse also occurred on social media in late January 2025 about Elon Musk supposedly doing a "Roman" salute rather than a "Sieg Heil" salute. The "Roman" salute, often referred to as the "Fascist salute," is the original version of the "Sieg Heil" salute that the German Nazi Party adopted in the 1930s and '40s. TikToker^[16] @joeycontino2 posted a video on the topic on January 20th, 2025, receiving over 76,200 likes in a day (shown below).

Also on January 20th, 2025, X^[17] user @SmoothDunk posted a webcomic critical of the people who believed Musk's gesture was a "Roman" salute and not a "Sieg Heil" salute, showing said people devolving into Fascism, receiving over 248,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Various Reactions

Search Interest

External References