Elon Musk, the owner of SpaceX, Twitter/X and Tesla, and current richest man in the world, took the stage at Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday (January 20).
During his speech, Musk told the crowd, "This is what victory feels like. This was no ordinary victory, this was a fork in the road of human civilization." Musk then smacked his hand over his heart and gave a stiff armed salute in the air, which he repeated once again with his back to the roaring crowd.
Musk then spoke directly to Donald Trump, stating, "My heart goes out to you. It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured. Thanks to you. We’re gonna have safe cities, finally safe cities. Secure borders, sensible spending. Basic stuff. And we’re gonna take 'Doge' to Mars."
CNN’s Erin Burnett was covering the inauguration live, and she first called Musk’s action an "odd looking salute."
Musk's actions at the inauguration continued to garner criticism from viewers and the media alike, with Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, describing Musk as delivering "a Roman salute, a fascist salute most commonly associated with Nazi Germany."
Source: YouTube
