Musk’s gesture during Trump’s inauguration draws attention Via Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Billionaire Elon Musk’s hand gesture during President Donald Trump’s inauguration drew online comparisons to a Nazi salute on Monday, but a leading antisemitism expert it seems to represent a moment of enthusiasm.

Musk dismissed criticism of the hand gesture as a “tired” attack.

Musk took to Capital One (NYSE:) Arena in Washington to huge cheers, pumping their hands and shouting, “Yessss.”

“This was no ordinary victory. This was a fork in the road of human progress,” he said. “This was really important. Thank you for making it happen! Thank you,” he said.

He bit his lower lip, clapped his right hand over his heart, fingers extended, then stretched his right hand out, with emphasis, pointing upwards, palms down and fingers together. Then he turned and made the same hand gesture to the crowd behind him.

“My heart goes out to you. I thank you that the future of civilization is guaranteed,” he said as he finished the show.

The gesture was quickly scrutinized online.

“Did Elon Musk Sieg Heil Trump’s Inauguration?” asked the Jerusalem Post.

The Anti-Defamation League, which follows anti-Semitism, disagreed.

“Looks like @elonmusk made an awkward gesture in a moment of passion, not a Nazi salute, but again, thankful people are around,” it wrote on Monday.

“Actually, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is very tired,” Musk said on his public platform X late Monday.

Shortly after his speech, Musk posted a Fox video clip of parts of his speech to X, which left the stage as he made his first gesture to face the cameras. “The future is so exciting,” he wrote above it.

A spokesman for Trump did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Some X users defended Musk, saying that Musk was expressing “my heart goes out to you” and criticized posts that suggested otherwise.

Musk has backed the Alternative for Germany (AfD), an anti-immigration, anti-Islam party dubbed “extreme right-wing” by German security services, in the upcoming national election. He ran an announcement with the party leader on his social media platform earlier this month.