By West Side Rag
Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the Upper West Side’s congressional representative, accused tech billionaire Elon Musk on Monday of doing a Nazi salute during his remarks at President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The Musk gesture that ignited a firestorm online (was it a Nazi salute, or just an emotional hand wave?) was, to a large degree, interpreted by viewers through the prism of their personal politics. The fact check site Snopes dissected Musk’s gestures and his accompanying words and concluded available evidence was too scant to draw a conclusion — though it noted that some neo-Nazis quickly embraced Musk’s action.
Here’s what Nadler had to say about the gesture.
I never imagined we would see the day when what appears to be a Heil Hitler salute would be made behind the Presidential seal. This abhorrent gesture has no place in our society and belongs in the darkest chapters of human history. I urge all of my colleagues to unite in… https://t.co/WDgReK1gey
— Rep. Nadler (@RepJerryNadler) January 20, 2025
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a nonprofit that combats anti-Semitism, pushed back against the idea that Musk made a Nazi salute.
“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,” the ADL wrote on X, which is owned by Musk.
Musk responded to the situation with the following, “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.”
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What is this “accuses” business? How about, “calls a spade a spade”? Does even the West Side Rag need to be mealy mouthed about what this clown did yesterday? It was clear as day. We really live in a post-truth society.
Elon Musk is NOT a Nazi. He sometimes makes gestures that go with Aspergers which he has. Nadler frequently makes accusations that are dead net wrong.
Maybe he’s just on the Nazi Spectrum…
Elon Musk may or may not be a Nazi, but he is definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, an antisemite. Go look at his Twitter tweets and retweets from years back, some were cloaked in jest for plausible deniability and some were directly hostile to Jews.
Who says Musk has Aspergers? Musk, that’s who — part of his self-diagnosis, along with his self-labeled “genius.” He’s creating his own handy myth.
No one is saying he’s a Nazi, although the person he is adhering to is. But what he did was a Nazi gesture, clear as day, Aspergers or no.
yeah, I heard that about Adolf Hitler, he didn’t really mean all that stuff, and the killing and everything….. he just had Aspergers.
How Nadler still represents anyone is a joke…
Judging by his actual accomplishments, Musk is a genius. But he’s incredibly awkward and uncoordinated. It certainly wasn’t a Nazi salute. Less awkward people would have avoided similar movements. But he’s awkward so there it is.
For those of us who indirectly experienced the horror of Nazism, these cheap attacks dilute the very real risks of totalitarianians generally (not just limited to Nazis).
If these people were ‘literally Hitler’ why are your political favs chatting with them?
Let’s reduce the rhetorical heat, for everyone’s benefit.
I have a journalist friend who used to cover Musk. When he started writing critically of Musk, he no longer was invited to his pr junkets. He said Musk was crazy. When I asked him why Musk’s craziness wasn’t public information, he said it was because there was so much money invested in him, no one wanted the truth known. That was before the pandemic. Now, everyone knows how crazy he is.
Evidently not quite everyone, alas.
Are you kidding “genius”? Nothing could be further from the truth that Musk is a genius. He is the embodiment of mediocrity, except, perhaps, as a bully, outsize character, and manipulator. Okay, I’ll concede that he’s good at building a company after pushing out the real engineers, inventors, and original owners and then learning how to game the system for government handouts.
the argument that “it wasn’t a Nazi salute” would have more credibility if Musk wasn’t openly supporting the neo-Nazi party in the German elections next month (the AfD) and if he hadn’t been intervening in Britain on behalf of extreme rightists.
Musk grew up in apartheid S. African and makes frequent demeaning remarks on Twitter that are openly racist and misogynist.
but even if you don’t buy that, maybe you should pay attention to his DOGE task force. Musk is openly coming after us: our Medicare, Medicaid, social security, all public benefits. He’s the leading edge of the autocratic oligopoly. A true plutocrat.
What accomplishments? He buys companies. That doesn’t require genius. He’s not an engineer, or a scientist, or a programmer. He’s not an inventor. Just filthy rich.
it “certainly wasn’t”. Holy smokes.
If anyone is trying to tell you it wasn’t what it was, tell them to do it right now. Tell them you’ll go with them into a store, a subway station, anywhere public and watch them do it.
Crickets so far… where our usual brave commenters? So curious if the gang will call out MAGAworld for this blatant antisemitism.
If only there was a website where you could see videos of what actual Nazi salutes looked like.
Congratulations to brave Jerry Nadler for pointing out this outrageous act. Fortunately, that was the only thing that happened yesterday that gave us all pause.
Carry on and ignore the man behind the curtain.
Perhaps this will alleviate any questions.
https://images.app.goo.gl/54EdRbdCRfbzhw2Q9
Perhaps this will:
https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fyoblzhhc4fee1.gif&rdt=63461
Here’s an appropriately horrifying view:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/AJYZL6F7WZGQ7JTWU5R72NMXIM.gif?smart=true&auth=f6018e95331eb7a0867bea8138c624435890bdc8ba4dba1d98d6060385063768&width=1600&height=899
And since no one has mentioned it yet, I’ll note that he did this twice in a row.
Why post a still image instead of the entire video which is readily available? I don’t like Musk but he’s clearly awkward and uncoordinated and he was not doing a Nazi salute. Ridiculous!
One of the most pathetic parts about this is the ADL’s capitulation. There was nothing “awkward” about it – Musk fully owned it.
Very scary…Germany and the world never believed it could happen…
Are you kidding me? Jerry is going over the edge in fabricating this one. Time for Jerry to find a park bench to enjoy his day.
If everyone else who recognized Musk’s gestures as Nazi salutes were to join him, that would be an exceedingly crowded park bench.
I was standing outside of a Jewish house of worship on Amsterdam Avenue when I saw a man facing south and giving a Nazi salute. When he got into the taxi that pulled up I took down the cab’s number and later called the Taxi and Limousine Commission to tell them that one of their drivers was facilitating the movement of Nazi agents around the Upper West Side.
Ha Ha
Sometimes you have to scroll a bit on WSR to get to a comment by someone with a brain and a sense of humor that truly puts the point on the absurdity of not only our politicians but also many of our fellow neighbors. I’m glad I finally found this one.
Thank you Bill Williams for detecting “a brain and a sense of humor” behind my comment. I salute you.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, always minding his own business. This is what happens when one watches PBS too much, the objectivity is gone.
Not to worry: once DOGE/Musk has eliminated PBS, we’ll all see things for what they are much more clearly.
Governor Cuomo had to resign over nothing. Do you remember Senator Al Franken? He also had to resign over nothing. I am Jewish and have voted against Trump 3 times. There are tremendous changes going on right now that need to be analyzed. Do not take the bait of getting in an uproar over nothing.
Eight (8) women came forward with credible accusations against Al Franken for sexual misconduct. That’s not “nothing.” It’s also what Governor Cuomo had to resign for.
Please stop downplaying this sort of behavior.
Cuomo will be a tough guy to beat. He is a tenacious SOB, not to be underestimated.
If you are the same Katherine that commented that Muslims are well catered to in this article, please stop downplaying the suffering of Muslims, especially those who have nothing to do with extremists and nothing to do with stuff like ripping down the hostage posters.
Completely disagree. Rep. Nadler has done outstanding work for decades to benefit our district. He’s absolutely right to call out Musk’s aberrant behavior. Be vigilant, West Siders. It’s no coincidence that Germany was represented at the inauguration by 3 members of its far-right party.
Interesting time for ‘ole Jerry to care. For two years when there was actual anti-semetism in his own backyard (Columbia) him and Schumer barely said a word. When Jews were being spit on the UWS, not a peep. Glad all it took was an awkward gesture by a political foe to peek his interest. Please someone spare us all and invoke term limits for these lifetime politicians….
This is neat considering how casual bias and stereotyping against Muslims who are very much part of the UWS is implicitly considered okay on the UWS, who pride themselves as progressives but when Muslims get messed around with on the UWS, they get told to buzz off.
Antisemitism is wrong and a very legitimate concern, the way I have seen Muslims on the UWS be treated makes it harder to sympathize with Nadler.
I doubt you could provide a single example. Muslims are well catered to.
“Well catered to”? What on earth does that mean? I’m pretty sure if you asked some of them how it’s been over the last few years they too could come up with some examples of insults. So could some gay or transgender people. The world does not revolve around one segment of society
I think there is a serious concern of certain people in our society not wanting Muslims in their neighborhoods including on the UWS. I genuinely believe that there are people on the UWS who do not want Muslims to be here but will never acknowledge that openly. UWS community leader cater to these types. There are even liberal UWS residents who do not want Muslims on the UWS also, they will behave and act in code rather than openly say it. They will support a safe haven homeless shelter on the UWS, they will support people being released from prison into UWS homeless shelters, but not people of Muslim background who are hardworking and respectful people.
Juvenile nonsense like this is why we democrats lost in November, and will keep losing, unless we become a serious party again. No, Nadler, everyone who doesn’t agree with your politics is a Nazi ( or a fascist, white supremacist, etc). Embarrassing.
Kindly point me to where Nadler declared that everyone who doesn’t agree with his politics is “a Nazi (or a fascist, white supremacist, etc.).” You joust with a straw man.
Anyone endowed with reason who has viewed the whole clip (not selectively edited to try to fit a narrative) saw this was at the end of a gesture of enthusiasm and affection. You can find examples of Hilary, Kamala, Obama, Elizabeth Warren making the exact same gesture. Musk has been accused by one side of being a Zionist because of his support of Israel, and by the other side of being a Nazi. These contrived outrage games don’t work any more.
Good old WSR censorship. I may live in Kansas but I am still a Jew. What was wrong with my comment? This won’t see the light of day but here it is again: Man, this guy sure enjoys being the unelected “President”. He is getting the attention he has always craved. Please stop!
Bear in mind, Nadler isn’t just embarrassing himself. We are his constituents, so therefore he’s gravely embarrassing us as well. And if you’re a Democrat, he’s greatly damaging the party. If you think 4 more years of childish, defamatory comments like this are going to cause millions of voters to rush to the Democrat party in the upcoming elections, you are terribly mistaken.
Sorry to hear about your grave embarrassment and hope you make a swift recovery.
Oh, and it’s Democratic Party, not “Democrat party” — a fairly common error, especially on Fox News.
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck. Yes, it was a Nazi salute, both times. As a Jew, I am very concerned. This guy is dangerous. His secret contacts with Putin seems to be the New World Order plotting people have talked about for years…so many billionaires hooking up with Trump all of a sudden, Musk getting a position ( maybe, have to see how the court cases come out) and now an office in the West Wing (saw this information yesterday)…has to stay close to Trump in order to keep under control. Trump isn’t smart enough to concoct these events. Trump is being controlled…he just thinks he’s getting paid for access.
From “Musk responds to backlash over gesture at Trump rally” (https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy48v1x4dv4o) one learns:
“Andrea Stroppa, a close 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’.”
Oh, so he was simply hailing Caesar, then? Perfectly normal behavior.
The BBC story continues, “The Roman salute was widely used in Italy by Benito Mussolini’s Fascist Party, before later being adopted by Adolf Hitler in Germany.”
Now I get it — this was a Fascist salute, not a Nazi salute. I feel SO much better now!
Granted, this theory doesn’t quite account for Musk’s ongoing vocal, enthusiastic support for Germany’s AfD….
I’m far more concerned about the Nazi being saluted than the Nazi salute.
Another dumb hoax ppl are sick of
PBS is pretty provocative reporting on Musk like this—it must be some of the lowest hanging fruit for the DOGE axe that there is
Yes, PBS reported on it … along with Al Jazeera, Alternet, AP News, The Atlantic, the BBC, CNN, Crooks & Liars, The Daily Beast, Forbes, The Forward, Fox News, France 24, The Guardian (UK), The Hill, Hollywood Reporter, HuffPost, The Independent, Mediaite, MSNBC, The New Republic, New York Magazine, The New York Times, Politico, Raw Story, Reuters, Rolling Stone, Slate, Vanity Fair, Variety, The Washington Post, Wired, and no doubt a long list of others.
Many of the above have also been diligently covering Musk’s warm embrace of the AfD and Reform UK parties, in case you’d like to read up on that related topic.
Oh u mean all the legacy media being rejected and circling the drain?—I’ll pass
https://techwontsave.us/episode/190_elon_musk_unmasked_creating_the_genius_myth_part_2
At best, Musk imitated a Roman salute, which is what the Nazi salute is based upon. Either way, it’s pretty bad, and enough with excusing his hatred of Jews and minorities on his Aspergers, which is handily self-diagnosed.
He has an answer for everything, as do all hustlers.
I am afraid that Elon Musk will make it harder for other neurodivergent people to be accepted.
The ADL came out and said that it wasn’t. Stop already…
Sigh ….. looks like 4 more years of “everyone The NY Times and Rachel Maddow ordered me to hate is Hitler” hysteria.
Amazing that UWSers consider themselves so much more intelligent and refined than the masses, yet they instantly turn into an unthinking, raging, seething mob the second some left-wing organization (which is intentionally trying to inflame things to generate eyeballs and clicks) makes some nonsensical claim.
Speaking of nonsensical claims, where can one find this “unthinking, raging, seething mob” you mention? Perhaps the NYPD should be notified. Also, to what particular inflammatory “left-wing organization” do you refer?
Oh, and who exactly have the NYT and Rachel Maddow “ordered” us to hate?
Just askin’.
The ADL has clearly lost the plot. What feckless capitulation!
There is no doubt what Musk’s “Sieg Heil” gesture means. This unstable, unelected, unprincipled menace, who grew up where apartheid was the law, performed this horrific display in plain view, and any person with a conscience should condemn him unequivocally.
I can’t imagine opining that the ADL are Nazis, or would capitulate to Nazis.
I can’t imagine they’re Nazis, either.
I also can’t imagine why they should have the final say on the issue.
Meanwhile, just another day at Columbia. Perhaps my UWS neighbors looking so desperately for Nazis should look here: https://nypost.com/2025/01/22/us-news/masked-students-disrupt-columbia-classes-distribute-antisemitic-leaflets/
But where were their swastikas, brown shirts, jackboots, “Roman” salutes, and/or MAGA caps?
Perhaps I’m not looking desperately enough.
Where is all the outrage from our politicians about this!
Regarding Musk — In my opinion politics are inflammatory right now. Everyone is on alert to point the finger at someone else. Do I think it was a Nazi salute, I don’t know. What I do know, is anyone with public pulpit should know better and avoid any appearance of impropriety.
Regardless of whether or not it was a Nazi salute, it did at least 2 things in my mind. First, it has put fear and concern in Jews (and non-Jews) about the nature of both Musk and this administration. Second, it has emboldened neo-Nazi with the belief that this administration is on their side. If Musk and this administration want to do the right thing, they don’t even need to apologize. They can say that they support Jews in the U.S. and neo-Nazis, antisemitism and hate have no place in our society. I won’t hold my breath waiting for such a statement.
For all those defending musk, read the postings he did today “jokes” – at least the ADL called him out today.
Contrition, Musk-style! I’m surprised he didn’t throw in one about “raising a führer”. (Or maybe he did.)
The Forward also had something to say about it: “Nazi salute or not, Elon Musk was gesturing to a new spectacle of fascism” (https://forward.com/opinion/690835/elon-musk-fascist-salute-walter-benjamin/).
But hey, as long as he’s connecting with his target audience, all is well, reich?
“Neo-Nazis rejoice over Elon Musk’s Nazi salute at Donald Trump’s inauguration celebration” (https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/01/neo-nazis-rejoice-over-elon-musks-nazi-salute-at-donald-trumps-inauguration-celebration/)
Somewhat similar to the Bellamy salute, roughly pre-1943 flag salute.
Provocative actions get people talking, These type of guys typically will not apologize, maybe at best he will say understand your history.
What was posted about Columbia students is horrifying. Columbia needs to get their act together, if it requires security to be available they need to do that, you never can have this type of intimidation going on.
Me thinks that he was just waving goodbye to Absolute Bagels.
Maybe if Musk enrolled at Columbia all you phony pearl clutchers would give him a pass. Where was Nadler and the rest of the UWS leftist political class all this time? The Columbia Hamas fan club was back harassing students in class just the other day and I didn’t hear a peep.
It was a “from my heart to you” gesture. Not unlike the sign language for “thank you.” Ever watch the Royal Family contingent ride by the adoring crowd? They also hold an arm out to the audience. Rarely it is accompanied by that weird hand wave. How many ways can the body move? How many ways to reach out physically to the people? We can get over this if we’re smart.
Elon, too, feels we should all just get over it:
“Elon Musk’s call for Germany to ‘move beyond’ Nazi guilt is dangerous, Holocaust memorial chair says” (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/elon-musks-call-germany-move-nazi-guilt-dangerous-holocaust-memorial-c-rcna189316).
I would prefer not to.