"White power moment"

Right-wingers celebrate Musk for Hitler salute-like gesture

"My heart goes out to you", Musk said - but his speech went viral for a different reason.

(Bild: APA/AFP/ANGELA WEISS)

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has rejected criticism of his gesture reminiscent of the Hitler salute after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump as unfounded - but he is still being celebrated for it on right-wing online networks. "Donald Trump White Power moment", wrote the leader of a neo-Nazi group in Australia on Telegram.

According to the AFP news agency, a user on the neo-Nazi forum Stormfront posted a picture of Musk in this pose with the comment "Heil Hitler". A group from the far-right militia Proud Boys, whose members Trump had pardoned on Monday for the storming of the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, also shared a video of the moment on Telegram. She also wrote: "Hail Trump" ("Heil Trump").

Christopher Pohlhaus, the leader of the neo-Nazi group Blood Tribe, shared a video on Telegram linking Musk's gesture to footage of masked members of the group carrying swastika flags. Followers reacted with lightning emojis - a reference to the infamous Nazi SS units.

Musk speaks of "dirty tricks"
Musk spoke to Trump's supporters in the Capitol One Arena in Washington on Monday. He first slapped his heart with his right hand and then stretched out his right arm. He thanked Trump supporters for their contribution to Trump's election victory: "Thank you for making this possible. My heart beats for you."

The billionaire had been heavily criticized in online networks for his jagged outstretched arm. There was controversy among experts as to whether it was a deliberate fascist gesture. Musk rejected the criticism in his online service X: his opponents needed "better dirty tricks", he wrote.

Expert: Right-wing extremists "more than enthusiastic"
Meanwhile, the co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism network, Heidi Beirich, told AFP that there was "no doubt among white supremacists that Musk made a Nazi salute". In her estimation, the right-wing extremists were "more than thrilled". "In general, they believe that Musk's raised arm is an endorsement of their beliefs," she said.

Extremism expert T. Kenny Fountain of the University of Virginia sees the far-right's reaction to Musk's gesture as a "dangerous" signal. "If an eager audience interprets this gesture as a meaningful endorsement, we are in dangerous territory," Fountain wrote in the online service Bluesky. He is not surprised that many right-wing extremists interpret it this way.