A picture of Elon Musk making a straight-arm, Nazi-like gesture throughout his speech Monday at U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration was projected onto Tesla’s Gigafactory in Berlin-Brandenburg on Wednesday evening.
The picture featured Musk making the gesture alongside the phrases “Heil Tesla.” U.Okay. activist group Led By Donkeys and Germany’s Centre for Political Magnificence had been behind the show, and posted a shared Instagram publish from the 2 teams. “Tesla Gigafactory, Berlin. #LedByDonkeys,” the caption learn.
Led By Donkeys additionally shared a mini-doc on Instagram Thursday, with the caption, “The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, is selling the far proper in Europe. Don’t purchase @teslamotors. Location: Tesla Gigafactory, Berlin.”
“That is the Tesla Gigafactory in Berlin the place Elon Musk builds Tesla automobiles for the European market. It’s factories like this which have made him the world’s richest particular person. However now he’s utilizing that wealth, billions of {dollars} amassed by promoting Teslas, to advertise European far-right events,” the voiceover from the mini-doc begins. “He’s vocally supporting the far-right AfD [Alternative for Germany] within the upcoming German election, claiming ‘solely the AfD can save Germany.’”
The projection of the picture on the Tesla Gigafactory comes after Musk’s speech on Monday at Trump’s inauguration. He thanked Trump supporters earlier than slapping his hand on his chest and lengthening his arm straight outward and upward together with his palm going through downward.
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“I simply need to say thanks for making it occur,” Musk mentioned throughout his speech at Capital One Enviornment, referring to Trump’s victory within the U.S. presidential election. Then he slapped his hand on his chest and prolonged his arm straight out and up together with his palm going through down.
“My coronary heart goes out to you,” Musk mentioned, after turning round to make the same gesture going through the opposite approach.
Musk responded to the accusations that his gesture seemed like a Nazi salute on X a number of hours after he left the stage.
“Frankly, they want higher soiled methods. The ‘everyone seems to be Hitler’ assault is sooo drained,” Musk wrote.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which campaigns towards antisemitism, has come to Musk’s defence.
“Evidently @elonmusk made an ungainly gesture in a second of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, however once more, we recognize that individuals are on edge,” the group wrote in a publish to social media Monday afternoon.
“On this second, all sides ought to give each other a little bit of grace, even perhaps the advantage of the doubt, and take a breath. This can be a new starting. Let’s hope for therapeutic and work towards unity within the months and years forward.”
In the meantime, the ADL’s website describes the “Hitler salute” or “Nazi salute” as consisting “of elevating an outstretched proper arm with the palm down.”
“In Nazi Germany, it was usually accompanied by chanting or shouting ‘Heil Hitler’ or ‘Sieg Heil,’” the outline continues. “Since World Struggle II, neo-Nazis and different white supremacists have continued to make use of the salute, making it the commonest white supremacist hand signal on the planet.”
Musk has not publicly responded or reacted to the projection of the picture on the Tesla manufacturing unit as of this writing.
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—With information from World Information’ Michelle Butterfield and The Related Press
© 2025 World Information, a division of Corus Leisure Inc.
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