Big Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk is undoubtedly a very controversial figure. He is famously known for being the CEO of two major companies: Tesla, which has revolutionized electric vehicle production, and SpaceX, which has transformed privatized space travel. He is also known for his ownership of the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, which he infamously renamed upon acquiring it.
As the head of these organizations, Musk has often been at the head of public controversies. One of the most recent pieces of problematic news to come out about Musk was that he openly appeared to give a Nazi salute at an event held for President Donald Trump’s inauguration. This news was naturally deeply alarming and frightening to many. How could a gesture most commonly associated with the fascist, antisemitic regime of Adolf Hitler be reappearing at a nationally televised event in the U.S. nearly a century after WWII?
In addition to finding the incident completely and utterly disgusting, many people, including European officials and Democratic members of Congress, found it to be quite shocking.
Upon viewing the salute, Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., wrote on Musk’s platform X: “I never imagined we would see the day when what appears to be a Heil Hitler salute would be made behind the Presidential seal.”
On the opposite side of the political spectrum, many far-right Conservatives rushed to Musk’s side to defend him, insisting that it was a harmless gesture with no intention of referencing Hitler or Nazism.
But in the two weeks following Trump’s inauguration, Musk has dug himself into an even deeper hole by failing to outright deny that he did the gesture. Instead, he made light of the accusations, cracking jokes from his personal X account. He also complained in a separate post, calling the backlash he was receiving from the left “dirty tricks” and writing “The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.”
Perhaps if Musk was capable of self-reflection, he’d be able to realize that when one does a gesture that looks practically identical to a Nazi salute, the natural consequence that will follow is a comparison arising between them and Hitler. It would appear, though, that at this point in time, Musk is not mature enough to admit that.
It is undeniably shocking that Musk took his fascist rhetoric this far, shamelessly invoking Nazism in the way that he did. However, Musk’s recent history demonstrates that it may not be as far-fetched as some people might think.
In recent years, Musk has tended toward fascism, particularly as the new owner of X. These are major bread crumbs he’s left behind in his ascension to becoming, arguably, one of the most powerful bigots in the world. Musk has been openly abusing his power ever since acquiring X in 2022, making blatant efforts to silence his political opponents on the platform. This is a prime example of forcible suppression of opposition — a key symptom of fascism. Most recently, in December 2024, he engaged in such censorship upon facing opposition within the Conservative community on X regarding immigration, specifically the topic of H-1B visas. In response to this backlash, he allegedly used his power as the app’s owner to remove the blue verification badges of at least 14 accounts that opposed him.
The bromance and political alliance Musk has been able to forge with Trump is likely a key component in how Musk ended up getting on stage and doing that salute, both because the salute was at a Trump inauguration event, and because Trump and Musk seem to have flirted with fascism. And though it’s frightening to admit, it’s likely that in these next four years these two extremely powerful men will have the potential to revert the United States back toward a level of fascism not seen in decades.
And so, in these upcoming weeks, we should do our best to be kind to one another. When a fascist whose campaign centered on hatred wins the presidential election, it can be easy to feel like the world is doomed beyond our control and kindness is simply a thing of the past. But we do have control of the community we foster on the Tufts campus, and the most defiant form of resistance against fascism is its polar opposite: radical kindness.
