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Tech billionaire Elon Musk sparked controversy on Monday after he made a gesture similar to the Nazi salute at an event celebrating US President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Musk’s gesture resembled the Nazi salute, also known as the Sieg Heil salute, which was used as a greeting in Nazi Germany. It was officially adopted by the Nazi Party in 1926 and signified obedience to Adolf Hitler. The gesture is illegal in modern-day Germany, Austria and Slovakia and is looked down upon in most Western countries as anti-Semitic.

The X, SpaceX and Tesla chief appeared on stage at the Capital One Arena in Washington, where supporters of the newly inaugurated president had gathered for a rally.

Upon thanking the crowd for returning the 78-year-old Republican to the White House, Musk tapped the left side of his chest with his right hand and then extended his arm with his palm open, repeating the gesture for the crowd seated behind him to see.

The internet, as always, had mixed reactions to the moment. Most people were shocked at the move, however, one X user highlighted that “nobody cares, people are willingly turning towards fascism”.

Another user aptly stated that Musk made the gesture twice because “he knows they’ll be no repercussions” under the Trump administration, which Musk is also a part of.

A netizen said that the people defending Musk would be a lot more convincing if “he hadn’t been proudly supporting every fascist rightwing movement around the world for the last few years.”

Some sprung to the Tesla CEO’s defence, claiming the movement was “a socially awkward autistic man’s wave to the crowd where he says ‘my heart goes out to you’”.

Another user questioned if zionists would call out Musk “for doing the Nazi salute twice on stage… or are anti-Semitism accusations solely resolved for Palestine supporters?”

The answer to that seems to be leaning towards the latter question, as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) — an international non-governmental organisation founded to combat antisemitism — jumped to Musk’s defence and even granted him the benefit of the doubt.

In a statement, the organisation said, “It seems that Elon Musk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge.

“In this moment, all sides should give one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt, and take a breath. This is a new beginning. Let’s hope for healing and work toward unity in the months and years ahead.”

The ADL statement was met with backlash from many X users, including British-American broadcaster Mehdi Hasan and US representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

“If Rashida Tlaib criticises Israel, she’s an antisemite per the ADL,” Hasan wrote.

“If Elon Musk, a man with a history of antisemitic remarks, does what looks to everyone like a fascist salute, the ADL give him the benefit of the doubt and call it only an ‘awkward gesture’.”

Responding to the ADL’s tweet, Ocasio-Cortez said, “Just to be clear, you are defending a Heil Hitler salute that was performed and repeated for emphasis and clarity.

“People can officially stop listening to you as any sort of reputable source of information now. You work for them. Thank you for making that crystal clear to all.”

Other netizens highlighted that the ADL called Palestinians and Palestine supporters antisemitic, but gave Musk “grace”.

An X user posted a picture wearing the keffiyeh and said, “According to the ADL, I (a Jewish person) am wearing the equivalent to a swastika in this phot but Elon Musk (a Christian) doing the Nazi salute has no connection to Nazism.”

Another individual questioned, “Are we all collectively pretending that a lot of neo-Nazis in this day and age aren’t Zionists too? Are we pretending that they don’t also target black people, Muslims, disabled people and queers?”

One X user pointed out American media’s hypocrisy for calling Musk a genius while simultaneously bending over backwards to clarify that his Nazi salute was not a Nazi salute.

A netizen reminded people that the rest of Musk’s speech was “also overtly fascist”.

Our favourite tweet, however, summed it all up perfectly by sharing a headline from an article by The Guardian.

“I knew one day I’d have to watch powerful men burn the world down — I just didn’t expect them to be such losers.”

After the incident, Musk to his official X handle and said, “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.”

Remember, hate speech and symbols are never okay — unless you’re a white, billionaire, cisgender man, of course!