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An image of Elon Musk make a straight arm, Nazi-like gesture during his speech to the US President on Monday of Donald Trump inauguration was projected on Tesla’s Gigafactory in Berlin-Brandenburg on Wednesday evening.
The image has Musk making the gesture next to the words “Heil Tesla.” British activist group Led By Donkeys and Germany’s Center for Political Beauty were behind the display, posting a shared Instagram post by the two groups. “Tesla Gigafactory, Berlin. #LedByDonkeys,” read the caption.
Led By Donkeys also shared a mini-doc on Instagram on Thursday, with the caption, “The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, promotes the far right in Europe. Don’t buy @teslamotors. Location: Tesla Gigafactory, Berlin.
“This is the Tesla Gigafactory in Berlin where Elon Musk builds Tesla cars for the European market. It’s factories like this that made him the richest person in the world. But now he’s using that wealth, billions of dollars collected by selling Teslas, to promote European far-right parties,” begins the voiceover of the mini-doc. “He avidly supports the far-right AfD [Alternative for Germany] in the upcoming German elections, claiming ‘only the AfD can save Germany’.
The projection of the image at the Tesla Gigafactory comes after Musk’s speech at Trump’s inauguration on Monday. He thanked Trump supporters earlier beat the chest with the hand and stretches his arm straight out and up with his palm down.
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“I just want to say thank you for the event,” Musk said during his speech at Capital One Arena, referring to Trump’s victory in the US presidential election. Then he slapped his hand on his chest and stretched his arm straight out and up with the palm down.
“My heart goes out to you,” Musk said, after turning to make a similar gesture the other way.
Musk responded to allegations that his gesture at X resembled a Nazi salute a few hours after he left the stage.
“Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is so tired,” Musk wrote.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which campaigns against anti-Semitism, has come to Musk’s defense.
“It appears that @elonmusk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge,” the organization wrote in a post on social media Monday afternoon.
“At this moment, all sides need to give each other a little grace, maybe even the benefit of the doubt, and a breather. This is a new beginning. Let’s hope for healing and work toward unity in the coming months and years.”
Meanwhile, the The ADL website describes the “Hitler salute” or “Nazi salute” as consisting “of raising an outstretched right arm with the palm down.”
“In Nazi Germany it was often accompanied by the singing or shouting of ‘Heil Hitler’ or ‘Sieg Heil’,” the description continues. “Since World War II, neo-Nazis and other white supremacists have continued to use the salute, making it the most common white supremacist hand sign in the world.”
Musk has not publicly responded or responded to the projection of the image at the Tesla factory as of this writing.
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–With files from Michelle Butterfield of Global News and The Associated Press
& copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
