Overview

Steve Bannon "Sieg Heil" Salute at 2025 CPAC refers to a moment during the 2025 Conservative Policy Action Conference (CPAC) when former Breitbart executive and President Donald Trump advisor Steve Bannon performed a gesture in which he extended his arm outward with his hand flat, resembling a Roman salute, commonly known as a "Nazi salute" or a "Sieg Heil" salute due to its use by the German Nazi Party under Adolf Hitler. Bannon's gesture sparked controversy in the U.S. in February 2025. It was immediately compared to Elon Musk's similar salute at Donald Trump's second inauguration roughly a month prior.

Background

On February 20th, 2025, Steve Bannon spoke at the 2025 Conservative Policy Action Conference (CPAC) and performed a gesture in which he extended his arm outward with his hand flat, resembling a Roman salute, often called a "Nazi salute" or a "Sieg Heil" salute.^[2] The moment was clipped by X^[1] user @atrupar who shared the video on February 20th, gaining over 1 million views and 7,300 likes in a day (shown below).

Here's video of Steve Bannon doing a Sieg Heil today at CPAC. It is what it is and it's what Bannon intended. Don't let yourself be gaslit. pic.twitter.com/LDT2kU43ZV

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 21, 2025

Online Reactions

In the following days, internet users reacted to Steve Bannon's gesture as it spread on social media and received press coverage.^[12] Many of the reactions online were negative, condemning Bannon for the gesture because it appeared to be a "Sieg Heil" salute to numerous users.

For instance, on February 20th, 2025, X^[5] user @JoshEakle tweeted, "Nazism has officially taken over the GOP. The few remaining conservatives have a choice: either leave the party and obstruct it—or choose to be complicit," gaining over 64,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Others online praised Bannon for the gesture, like X^[6] user @NextWaveAmerica on February 20th, who posted the video and wrote, "Steve Bannon just threw a Roman salute at CPAC 😂 Bannon 2028 🇺🇸," receiving over 3,400 likes in a day (shown below).

On February 20th, 2025, Redditor^[7] toolfan12345 posted the image of Bannon's apparent salute to the subreddit /r/pics, receiving over 106,000 upvotes and 9,100 comments in a day (shown below).

Numerous Redditors discussed the moment in the post's comment section, like Redditor^[8] DuringTheBlueHour who said, "This is the Bad Place," gaining over 30,000 upvotes in a day. Similarly, Redditor^[9] L0veConnects wrote, "We are letting them make it normal. STOP letting them," receiving over 19,000 upvotes in a similar timeframe.

On February 20th, 2025, X^[3] user @CanadianKobzar compared Bannon's gesture to Elon Musk's controversial gesture at the second inauguration of Donald Trump, writing, "America. You have a nazi problem. I say this with no exaggeration," gaining over 44,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Also on February 20th, X^[4] user @YourAnonNews tweeted a George W. Bush Learning About 9/11 meme using the A Second Plane Has Hit The X phrasal template, reading, "A second 'Sieg Heil" has hit the Republican party," receiving over 78,000 likes in a day (shown below). A similar meme was then shared to Reddit's /r/dankmemes^[13] the following day, receiving over 9,400 upvotes and 340 comments in three hours.

Developments

French Far-right Leader Jordan Bardella Cancels CPAC Appearance

On February 21st, 2025, the Guardian^[10] reported that French far-right leader Jordan Bardella canceled his appearance at the 2025 CPAC because of Steve Bannon's apparent "Sieg Heil" salute, saying the gesture alluded to "Nazi ideology" (shown below).

Redditor^[11] Glass-News-9184 posted about the update to the subreddit /r/europe that same day, gaining over 3,100 upvotes and 210 comments in an hour.

Search Interest

External References