Cartoon by DengCoy Miel

Musk responds to backlash over gesture at Trump rally

BBC: Elon Musk has brushed aside the furore over a one-armed gesture he gave during a speech celebrating the inauguration of Donald Trump.

At Monday's event, Musk thanked the crowd for "making it happen", before placing his right hand over his heart and then thrusting the same arm out into air straight ahead of him. He then turned and repeated the action for those sitting behind him.

Some on X, the social medial platform he owns, likened the gesture to a Nazi salute, though others disagreed.

In response, the SpaceX and Tesla chief posted on X: "Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The 'everyone is Hitler' attack is sooo tired."

Musk, the world's richest man and a close ally of President Trump, was speaking at the Capital One Arena in Washington DC when he made the gesture.

"My heart goes out to you. It is thanks to you that the future of civilisation is assured," the 53-year-old said, after giving the second one-armed salute.

There was immediate backlash on social media and disagreement about Musk's intent.

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a history professor at New York University, said: "Historian of fascism here. It was a Nazi salute and a very belligerent one too."

But the Anti-Defamation League, an organisation founded to combat antisemitism, did not agree.

"It seems that Elon Musk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute," it posted on X.

Andrea Stroppa, a confidant of Musk who has connected him with far-right Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, was reported by Italian media to have posted the clip of Musk with the caption: "Roman Empire is back starting from Roman salute".