After calling Palestine solidarity protesters antisemitic, ADL defends Musk’s Nazi salute

Video screenshot / AP feed

The Anti-Defamation League, an organization with a stated mission of fighting against “all forms of antisemitism and bias,” defended Elon Musk after the billionaire made a Nazi-style gesture amid celebrations of President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

The ADL’s defense of Musk has led some, including Jewish Voice for Peace and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., to question the organization’s reputability as an consistent opponent of antisemitism.

Shortly after Trump was inaugurated on Monday, Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and the richest person on earth, spoke to Trump supporters at the Capital One Arena in Washington.

“Yes! This is what victory feels like! Yeah!” Musk told the cheering crowd. “And this was no ordinary victory. This was a fork in the road of human civilization. There are elections that come and go, some elections are important, some are not. But this one really mattered. And I just want to say thank you for making it happen. Thank you.”

After saying this, video from the event shows Musk slapping his right hand to his chest and extend his right arm upwards diagonally with his fingers together and his palm facing down. Musk then turned around and repeated the same motion to those behind him.

Amid controversy over Musk’s gesture, the ADL quickly posted a statement on the social media platform X, which Musk owns, to defend the billionaire against claims he made a fascist salute.

“This is a delicate moment. It’s a new day and yet so many are on edge. Our politics are inflamed, and social media only adds to the anxiety,” the ADL stated.

“It seems that @elonmusk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge,” the ADL continued.

“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.”

Musk responded to the ADL’s statement with “Thanks guys” followed by a laughing emoji. He later posted on X: “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.”

White supremacists and neo-Nazis, however, were confident the salute was a message to them. Founder of the Christian nationalist far-right social media platform Gab, Andrew Torba, shared a video of Musk’s gesture and said, “Incredible things are happening already.”

Keith Woods, a “self-described ethno-nationalist and antisemite,” according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, posted the video clip and wrote, “Ok maybe woke really is dead.”

On Telegram, the Ohio chapter of the white supremacist Proud Boys group shared the video with the caption, “Hail Trump!”—an imitation of the Nazi “Heil Hitler” greeting.

It should be noted the ADL’s own definition of a “Nazi or Hitler salute” is “raising an outstretched right arm with the palm down.” It should be further noted that X, which Musk acquired in 2022 when it was known as Twitter, has faced accusations of becoming a “thriving hub” of white supremacist and pro-Nazi content.

Jewish Voice for Peace, which defines itself as the “largest Jewish anti-Zionist organization in the world,” accused the ADL of hypocrisy for defending Musk after previous criticisms of pro-Palestinian protesters.

Amid nationwide protests on college campuses last spring in which students accused the Israeli military of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, the ADL labeled such protests as being “marked by vicious antisemitic rhetoric, harassment, and intimidation.”

Police officers dismantled encampments and arrested student protesters at several universities, including the University of Pennsylvania, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of California, Los Angeles, Columbia University, the University of Texas, the University of Michigan, and others.

“When college students protest to end genocide, the ADL calls for militarized police across campuses. When the richest man in the world gives a Nazi salute on national television, they tell everyone to calm down,” JVP said in a statement.

JVP has previously condemned the ADL as not being a credible source on the issue of antisemitism. JVP has accused the ADL of labeling “anyone opposed to the Israeli government’s oppression of Palestinians as antisemitic” and of bigotry toward Arabs and Muslims. The ADL has accused JVP of pushing “antisemitic tropes” and supporting terrorists.

Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez said the ADL was “defending a Heil Hitler salute” in its support of Musk.

“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,” Ocasio-Cortez said of the ADL.

We hope you appreciated this article. At People’s World, we believe news and information should be free and accessible to all, but we need your help. Our journalism is free of corporate influence and paywalls because we are totally reader-supported. Only you, our readers and supporters, make this possible. If you enjoy reading People’s World and the stories we bring you, please support our work by donating or becoming a monthly sustainer today. Thank you!

---

CONTRIBUTOR

Brandon Chew

Brandon Chew is a journalist from northern Michigan.