Did Elon Musk do a Nazi salute? His father, Errol Musk, says not and explains what it actually was
Elon Musk’s father has given a bizarre response to claims his son made a Nazi salute during a speech after Donald Trump’s 2025 presidential inauguration.
A close ally of President Trump and executive of the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk has become one of the most powerful people in politics – and, perhaps, the world – through his support for the MAGA frontman.
He has caused controversy since becoming part of Trump’s central team, with a salute he gave at the inauguration still causing headlines around the world.
It was during the inauguration that Musk placed his right hand over his heart before enthusiastically thrusting it in to the air, extending his right arm out at an upward angle.
Critics said it was a Nazi salute; something Musk himself has denied and said is people playing politics.
“The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired,” he said in a post to X, previously known as Twitter before his takeover of the platform.
Musk’s father, a well-known South African politician and businessman, has now responded to the attack while appearing on Arab news network, Al Arabiya, where he gave a rather unique response to the situation and said his son made the gesture to show ‘he meant no harm’.
Asked about the ‘fury’ surrounding Musk’s salute on the stage, Musk Snr said: “Nonsense. Elon is a terrible public speaker, he has a lot to learn. I struggled with it at the beginning of my career when I was elected to the city council.
“You have to stand up and talk to a bunch of very wise people all starring at you. Your nerve goes, it doesn’t matter if you’ve written your notes down. Your eyes don’t read… you become blurred.
“Knowing him as well as I do… I could see he was struggling to get through his speech as fast as possible and to try and look as charming as possible, as he could. But he struggles. He hasn’t reached the incredibly smooth level of people like yourself [the interviewer] who have years of experience.”
On the salute, Musk Snr said: “It was an international salute we have had for the last 10,000 years, perhaps more. The old German hail Caesar, of course, emanated from, no doubt, the Persians, the Sumerians, and so on.
“It simply meant my right hand is empty. I do not carry a weapon.”
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“It means my right hand is empty, I do not carry a weapon”
Errol Musk defends his son Elon Musk's 'salute':
"It means my right hand is empty, I do not carry a weapon"
Errol Musk joined us for an exclusive interview where he says that people have misinterpreted @elonmusk's gesture and was not meant to replicate a Nazi salute. #ElonMusk pic.twitter.com/pfvhPnYR4k
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) February 24, 2025
Errol Musk joined us for an exclusive interview where he says that people have misinterpreted @elonmusk’s gesture and was not meant to replicate a Nazi salute. #ElonMusk
Since the inauguration, Elon Musk has publicly thrown his support behind the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) political party, which finished second in the polls in the February elections.
Alice Weidel, co-leader of the AfD, said Musk personally called her after their result to ‘personally congratulate her’.
