Draft:Elon Musk salute controversy

Musk gesturing to a crowd of onlookers at the inaguration. (USE the final one of this image sequence so they match up, albeit roughly)

Critics called the gesture a "nazi salute".

On January 20, 2025, while speaking the second inauguration of Donald Trump, businessman and politician Elon Musk performed two consecutive hand gestures that many critics said resembled nazi salutes or roman salutes. Photos of the hand gesture went viral online, and the gesture received widespread backlash.

Background

Main articles: Second inauguration of Donald Trump and Nazi salute

The inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States took place on Monday, January 20, 2025. Due to freezing temperatures and high winds, it was held inside the United States Capitol rotunda in Washington, D.C.^[1] It is the 60th U.S. presidential inauguration and the second inauguration of Trump as U.S. president, marking the commencement of his second and final non-consecutive term as U.S. president, the first term of JD Vance as the vice president, and the second ever non-consecutive re-inauguration for a U.S. president, after the second inauguration of Grover Cleveland in 1893.^[2] It is also the first presidential inauguration to take place indoors since Ronald Reagan's inauguration in 1985. Trump's first inauguration was eight years earlier, in January 2017.

Reactions

^[3][4]

See also

Notes and footnotes

Notes

Footnotes

1. Bonk, Valerie (January 20, 2025). "Frigid temperatures, possible icy patches in DC's forecast for Inauguration Day". WTOP.
2. Hajela, Deepti (November 6, 2024). "Trump isn't first to be second: Grover Cleveland set precedent of non-consecutive presidential terms". Associated Press. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
3. "MSN". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2025-01-22.
4. "MSN". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2025-01-22.