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Elon Musk’s straight-arm gesture embraced by right-wing extremists

Right-wing extremists are celebrating Elon Musk's straight-arm gesture during a speech on Donald Trump's inauguration day, although his intention wasn't totally clear and some hate watchdogs are saying not to read too much into it."I just want to say thank you for making it happen," Musk said during a speech at Capitol One Arena in Washington on Monday, referring to Trump's victory in the US presidential election.Then he slapped his hand on his chest, extended his arm straight outward and upward with his palm facing downwards. He turned around and made a similar gesture facing the other way.

Elon Musk's straight-arm gesture embraced by right-wing extremists

Elon Musk's straight-arm gesture at a Donad Trump inauguration event has triggered debate. (CNN)"My heart goes out to you," he said.Many social media users noticed that the gesture looked like a Nazi salute.Musk has only fanned the flames of suspicion by not explicitly denying those claims in a dozen posts since, though he did make light of the criticism and lashed out at people making that interpretation."The 'everyone is Hitler' attack is sooo tired," Musk posted on X several hours after he left the stage.Critics and fans alike of the Tesla chief executive and world's richest man were quick to react to the gesture.

Elon Musk's straight-arm gesture embraced by right-wing extremists

Elon Musk turned around and made a second similar gesture. (CNN)"The White Flame will rise again," a chapter of the white nationalist group White Lives Matter posted on Telegram."Maybe woke really is dead," white nationalist Keith Woods posted on X.The Anti-Defamation League, a US antisemitism and human rights watchdog, called it an "awkward gesture" and urged caution in jumping to conclusions.Other extremism watchdogs and experts pointed out it was unclear what Musk was trying to convey to the crowd of Trump's supporters during his speech by thrusting his arm out."I'm skeptical it was on purpose," said Jared Holt, a senior research analyst at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, which tracks online hate. "It would be an act of self-sabotage that wouldn't really make much sense at all."

Elon Musk's straight-arm gesture embraced by right-wing extremists

Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini adopted the straight-arm salute in the 1920s. (Roger Viollet via Getty Images)Holt noted Musk specifically said his heart went out to the crowd. That could indicate a sort of gesture of thanks to them.Since Musk bought Twitter, now called X, the self-described "free speech absolutist" has faced criticism from hate-speech watchdogs for allowing extremist, dangerous and antisemitic comments to flourish on the social media platform.His response has been to attack his critics, suing one group unsuccessfully after advertisers fled X and threatening to sue another, the Anti-Defamation League, which urged calm at this "delicate moment" in its statement Monday.In Europe where the fascist salute is associated with hate, death and destruction of World War II, Musk's arm gesture elicited outrage.An Italian communist youth organisation on Tuesday hung an effigy of Musk upside down in Milan's Piazzale Loreto, where Mussolini's body was hung upside down after he was executed during the final days of World War II.The organisation, Cambiare Rotta (Change Course), noted in a Facebook post that a photo of the effigy had been removed by the social media company.Trump cuts cake with large sword before he exits Commander-in-Chief ballView Gallery"We are correctly a little afraid, because that image is scary,'' author Filippo Ceccarelli told Italian La7 private television.Known as the Roman salute in Italy, the straight-arm greeting officially adopted in 1925 by the dictator Benito Mussolini's fascist regime is banned in Italy though it is rarely prosecuted.Musk's representative in Italy, Andrea Stroppa, published the photo on X with the words: "Roman Empire is back, starting with the Roman salute," according to the news agency ANSA.He later deleted the post, writing that Musk "is autistic," and was expressing his emotions but denying he was emulating fascism."He does not like extremists,'' Stroppa wrote.

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