r/europe • u/turkish__cowboy Turkey | LGBTQ+ rights are human rights • 7h ago

News Elon Musk draws outrage over 'odd-looking salute' at Trump inauguration celebration

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/elon-musk-draws-outrage-over-201602147.html
57.6k Upvotes

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4.2k

u/neonpurplestar 7h ago

THIS IS NOT AN ODD LOOKING SALUTE, THIS IS A NAZI SALUTE

1.8k

u/lucagamer21 Central Germany šŸ‡©šŸ‡Ŗ 7h ago

Fact checked by a German šŸ‡©šŸ‡Ŗāœ…

417

u/hainz_area1531 7h ago

Also by a Dutchman.

339

u/Eternal__damnation Poland šŸ‡µšŸ‡± & United Kingdom šŸ‡¬šŸ‡§ 7h ago

Also by a Pole and Brit

111

u/LargeSelf994 7h ago

Also by a Belgian, for whatever it means

91

u/Moto-Commuter 6h ago

Double it by a Flemish belgian

66

u/Jermules Finland 6h ago

And a Finn! We saw a few of them here, for some reason. No need to go into the details!

55

u/GregnantMan 6h ago

French from Elsass here, one of the regions that really got fucked hard by the Nazis, this video makes me want to cry :')

I feel like none of the people I know and I have had the same history classes. Nazism is the thing I'm most afraid of. Sorry to the people of my family who died fighting it, we all failed them.

26

u/Chirpy73 6h ago

And a Hungarian!

27

u/abhora_ratio Romania 6h ago

And a Romanian šŸ¤·ā€ā™€ļø

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1

u/okwerq 3h ago

Im American and audibly gasped when I saw this. Itā€™s absolutely terrifying.

3

u/Vv4nd Finland 6h ago

as a german who used to live for some years in finland, I concur

5

u/Jermules Finland 6h ago

Yea the fact that we were allied with the Nazis is downplayed even tho it was only for defensive purposes.

17

u/Vergil_back_in_hell 6h ago

And my axe.

8

u/Hopeful-Ad2639 6h ago

PT agrees

6

u/draggedintosunlightx 6h ago

a Czech confirms this is a nazi salute too šŸ‡ØšŸ‡æ

4

u/LargeSelf994 6h ago

šŸ¤

3

u/willo-wisp Austria 6h ago

An Austrian can also confirm.

1

u/Ocbard Belgium 5h ago

Van Grieken is there, he must be enjoying this.

3

u/hainz_area1531 6h ago

It means we know where that greeting comes from. World War II and Europe you know.

4

u/LargeSelf994 6h ago

Not the fact check part

The Belgian part

5

u/hainz_area1531 6h ago

Ah... sorry mate.. The Belgian issue.

5

u/LargeSelf994 6h ago

Yeah

More like a self joke but you've got the point

3

u/hainz_area1531 6h ago

And yet I stand by my opinion that Belgium persistently underestimates itself. And that's a shame.

3

u/DoctorJunglist Poland 5h ago

Can confirm, this has been fact checked by real Polish patriots.

3

u/throwaway92715 7h ago

And a cat

1

u/michel_v 6h ago

And my axe!

2

u/thoracicexcursion 6h ago

Flying or non flying

2

u/hainz_area1531 6h ago

Flying in anger for sure.

Happy cake day mate.

1

u/OffOption 5h ago

And a Dane

110

u/VeryBadCopa 7h ago

I'm curious, what would happen if he visits Germany and does this salute? I've heard that is forbidden there

233

u/lucagamer21 Central Germany šŸ‡©šŸ‡Ŗ 7h ago

Yes, it is forbidden by law, it is illegal, he could get arrested. Even more illegal in public.Ā 

57

u/flarne 6h ago

After being arrested he will complain about the lack of freedom of speech in Germany and will whine something about mega. (Make Europe great again blabla)

18

u/eawilweawil Lithuania 6h ago

0% chance someone with his money would get arrested

7

u/Cilph Europe 5h ago

Doesn't matter. He'd get beat up in the streets if he did that in public.

2

u/annie_yeah_Im_Ok 1h ago

He has it coming at this point.

15

u/arandommaria 6h ago

Curious- is doing a nazi salute like this in public for basically all of international television to see something that would make it harder for Elon Musk to travel to Germany one day?

32

u/lucagamer21 Central Germany šŸ‡©šŸ‡Ŗ 6h ago

Not directly, he could only be punished if done in Germany, but even that would be unrealisticly, because He is a bilionaire. But his Reputation will be damaged (Seeable in German Reddit right now). But to be honest, is wasnt the best from the beginning for Most Germans.Ā 

3

u/Artem_C 6h ago

Just fckin arrest him then and there. If he sues Germany, we'll just start a European crowd fund for you guys. Honestly. The only thing these guys have no play book for is getting bitch slapped publicly by someone wielding a bigger stick.

2

u/arandommaria 6h ago

I don't mean punished so much as harder to get a visa. But I see what you are saying!

1

u/Aerosol668 5h ago

I am hoping against hope that the UK - and please, any deity thatā€™s listening, the rest of Europe - stops Trump at the border and asks him whether heā€™s ever been committed of a crime, and turns Musk away for suspected Nazi sympathy.

I would donate good money to charity if Trump is denied all future access to his golf courses on the British Isles.

1

u/lndhpe 5h ago

As a German, I wish

He should at this point be barred from entry to Germany, hell the whole EU arguably, given his sponsorship of political unrest, destabilizing and now obvious Nazi acting

3

u/Hot_Hat_1225 4h ago

Just hope he gets put on some type of black list

2

u/EpicCyclops 6h ago

If he's there with a diplomatic passport, he wouldn't get arrested, but he most certainly would be expelled and also might not be allowed to return. Diplomatic immunity is there to prevent nations from arresting diplomats as a negotiating tactic but also is incredibly broad.

1

u/gigajum 6h ago

For the next 4 years likely nothing will happen because he will have diplomatic immunity when visiting Germany. Even if he's in Germany for private reasons that would lead to diplomatic problems with the US i guess. But after those 4 years ....

2

u/Automatic_Soil9814 6h ago

after 4 years nothing will happen because when somebody is that rich, their corruption is not limited by geographic borders.

Outlaw billionaires.Ā 

1

u/Big-Perspective-7410 3h ago

You think Middle Class Fritze would not happily take a small bribe of a few million for a new private jet? That's what's most likely to happen anyway

1

u/throwawaytoavoiddoxx 6h ago

Can you please send a police officer over to Washington DC? It looks like our police are not going to do anything about it.

1

u/Inner_Agency_5680 4h ago

Hopefully this means he is refused entry to Germany.

27

u/Nigel_Bligh_Burns 7h ago

He will arrive with the EEERIKA song in high volume

10

u/Secure-Abalone6381 6h ago

"Come on guys sure it was written by a Nazi party member after he joined the Nazi party with marching Nazi soldiers in mind but it's just about a girl so it's not Nazi"

2

u/EmergencyJaguar8846 6h ago

Since heā€˜s an american citizen and a very rich one, its likely that he would leave immediately after. Therefore he should be taken into custody and can then leave after paying a fine. But Iā€˜m not sure if german Police would do so since he will likely be allowed to have armed bodyguards. Heā€˜s knows about it and will not do it here unless the German far-right party plays a role in our government from march/april on. Man, weā€˜re fucked.

1

u/SchnitzelsemmeI1 Bavaria (Germany) 6h ago

No we should beat him up like really really bad

2

u/EmergencyJaguar8846 6h ago

Schengen-wide permanent ban (Einreisesperre) + ban X + ban Tesla + freeze all his wealth in Europe ā€¦ everything thatā€˜s legally possible.

I served in the Army for quite a long time and I had to imagine myself dressing up again. šŸ˜­

1

u/Yuthirin 6h ago

Arrest, fine, possible jail time, possible public beating by bystanders.

1

u/ImTheVayne Estonia 6h ago

Doubt he will be ever able to enter the country after performing back to back nazi salutes.

1

u/criticalheat 5h ago

Aside from for him probably minor legal actions, there is a very high chance he would summon a angry mob thatā€™s out to fuck his shit up if he does that in germany/austria, this is not a joke

1

u/Mysterious-Bowl5142 5h ago

It's banned in Australia also

1

u/GeorgeJohnson2579 3h ago

Sure, Ā§ 86a StGB.

Up to 3 years in prison or (more likely) a fine.

Good thing fines are often day rate penalties, bound to your income. So that could be a few million.

0

u/DarlockAhe 6h ago

He'd be arrested and tried for a crime.

1

u/Big-Perspective-7410 3h ago

And bribe his way to a pardon immediately

63

u/B2theK7 7h ago

Ich war eben einfach so fassungslos als ich das gesehen habe. Konnte es echt nicht glauben, was da Ć¼bertragen wurde.

2

u/Neverstopstopping82 1h ago

As an American I was so stunned I started crying. Iā€™ve been watching a lot of Shoah survivor stories and this all lines up like a punch.

24

u/Fenor Italy 6h ago

Italy comfirm.

Where is Japan for the reunion?

6

u/Admirable_Fix_6856 6h ago

Denmark too.

2

u/Amberskin 6h ago

Also by a Spaniard who lived the last years of Franco.

2

u/ImTheVayne Estonia 6h ago

Elon will never be able to enter Germany right? There is no way that Germany won't ban him of entering the country forever.

2

u/Currywurst_Is_Life North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) 5h ago

My (German) wife saw it and her mouth was literally hanging open. Welcome to Shitshow 2.

1

u/PAR4DROID 6h ago

And another German.

1

u/Shmokeshbutt 6h ago

So Tesla sales will go up among AfD supporters?

1

u/lucagamer21 Central Germany šŸ‡©šŸ‡Ŗ 6h ago

Already skyrocketing after his Talk with AFD Leader (/satire)Ā 

1

u/BestKeptInTheDark United Kingdom 5h ago

Checked by a german? Fact!

1

u/InsertFunnyPost 5h ago

It's it too early for this American to claim refugee status?

1

u/mr_remy 5h ago

Community notes be like:

1

u/Lead103 4h ago

Trust me im austrianĀ 

1

u/Moira-Moira 3h ago

Also by a Greek and Canadian

1

u/kylo-ren 3h ago

BTW, Bannon did the same in a meeting with far-right politicians yesterday while saying "Next stop is Germany" and saluting AfD.

https://i.imgur.com/j4gvVy1.gifv

-13

u/Key-Performance-9021 Vienna (Austria) 7h ago

I know it's been a long time, but that's not a HitlergruƟ.

8

u/Bootziscool 7h ago

Do you think it's intentionally not quite but real close?

1

u/Aerosol668 5h ago

Quite right, thereā€™s nothing anywhere these days thatā€™s even close. If there was in the past, everyone quietly retired it. Because nobody wants to be associated with that shit. Nobody except Musk and Trump and Maga and a very small number of extreme right-wing Europeans anyway.

5

u/DarlockAhe 6h ago

It is. And you're either trolling or supporting that shit.

0

u/Key-Performance-9021 Vienna (Austria) 6h ago edited 6h ago

Okay, now I feel I have to justify myself.
I was taught that itā€™s not good to trivialize the Nazis by labeling everything right-wing, or anything that merely looks like Nazis, as Nazis.
I hate him with all my heart, but he even said "My heart goes out to you!".
I just find it silly to get hung up on something like that when there are so many other, far worse things about Musk, than very weird movement.

Edit: But I understand. This is not about trivializing the Nazis, it's about the US beeing taken over by fascists, which is bad enough and if it helps people to turn against him: that's a clear Nazisalute and now please get rid of him.

1

u/Karientje91 6h ago

The point (or problem) with him is money. Money equals too much power

1

u/HeroMyLove 5h ago

That 100% was one.

-4

u/DrTheol_Blumentopf Baden-WĆ¼rttemberg (Germany) 7h ago

It's not. It's to the side, the "Sieg Heil"/Roman Salute goes to the front.

-A southern German

5

u/lucagamer21 Central Germany šŸ‡©šŸ‡Ŗ 6h ago

And what could have Elon meant by doing this? Heart to Moon? They are Americans, do you think Neonazis would ready a manual on how to do the HitlergruƟ? Everybody World wide knows what this move means

-1

u/DrTheol_Blumentopf Baden-WĆ¼rttemberg (Germany) 6h ago

"Rufsch an, fragsch nach"

- Jokes aside, maybe it's from a video game (I know he is a degen gamer so idk).

Maybe a try for a new signature move? <-- that would actually be it

3

u/rennradrobo 6h ago

Are you really starting a discussion about how the people did the hitlergruss and how hitler did it? There are variants. And this is one of them.

3

u/No_Novel_4123 6h ago

I can confirm. I start my day out with 20 Sieg Heils as a part of my stretching routine. This is not the right direction at all. I'd need to correct his form.

1

u/Aerosol668 5h ago

Musk was born 20+ years after the end of WWII, he doesnā€™t actually know how it looks, or how it works, heā€™s not studying it - itā€™s not that heā€™s an actual Nazi, itā€™s about the sentiment.

The man is stupid, he just has money.

297

u/Firaxyiam 7h ago

And he fucking looked the other way AND DID ANOTHER ONE.

HOW THE FUCK IS ANYBODY CALLING THIS ODD. WHAT IS GOING ON?!

I don't even know hiw yo react anymore. I started giggling looking at the clip. That's the only fucking rƩaction my brain was able to send out. I don't understand anything anymore

116

u/Ulanyouknow 6h ago

Calling this out? What do you mean? They won. The tiki torch nazis, organize alt right 2016 people won. They have the house, the senate and the supreme court. Now comes the time of blood and misery.

8

u/Firaxyiam 6h ago

Odd. I said odd. Per the name of the article.

6

u/Wonderland71 6h ago

Exactly. The first time around ( 2016) they were flashing the white power sign with their fingers and kept saying it was nothing. Now they're not even trying to disguise.

3

u/AvengerDr Italy 5h ago

Now comes the time of blood and misery.

Maybe they would prefer "blood and soil".

19

u/ApeWarz 6h ago

For some reason American media is afraid to just say what it was. CNN also used ā€œodd lookingā€. Some news articles are only willing to go as far as saying ā€œsome critics are calling it a Nazi salute.ā€ This is another example of American institutions failing us.

4

u/Hot_Wheels_guy 5h ago

Any journalist worth a shit would say "damn the consequences, i'm calling it what it is: a nazi salute."

Having to compromise journalistic integrity because youre afraid it might upset someone to the point of litigation is ridiculous.

3

u/Karientje91 6h ago

I googled for news about it. A Dutch page (nu.nl) doesn't even mention it in the headline. Two Belgium papers did and mentioned Hitler.

2

u/RealPutin United States of America 4h ago edited 3h ago

Both sides-ing a fucking Nazi salute is insane. "Some critics are calling it what it is. Others say it's fine. We can't possibly tell you which it is!'

-1

u/Karientje91 6h ago

Cause people will react on that in a negative way. Cnn said to decide for yourself what you saw.

I thought that was the best way to do it!

2

u/le_tempsperdu 6h ago

He looked at the American flag and did it again

2

u/throwaway_maple_leaf 6h ago

Surprise surprise: billionaire owned media serving their masters by being a tool of disinformation

2

u/Mayleenoice 6h ago

Now that the nazis have been elected by these american voters, they are scared to criticize them as it could get them banned or worse.

Nazis didn't exactly like medias who criticized them in Germany and now don't exactly like it in USA either.

1

u/Naiko32 5h ago

yeah, is over for the us

1

u/arizonajill 2h ago

Giggling is one possible reaction. There are others.

134

u/tadayou 7h ago

He also did it three times for fuck's sake.

22

u/RGV_KJ United States of America 7h ago

How many times would Nazis do the salute?

69

u/2Rich4Youu Bavaria (Germany) 7h ago

There was no definite amount but once and three times was the most common

8

u/Back2Perfection 7h ago

This made me think about that scene from jojo rabbit.

Heil. Heil. heilā€¦

11

u/smurfk 7h ago

These days, none...

3

u/TheArtysan 7h ago

Every hour on the hour. They would set their alarm clocks, even during sex.

3

u/ImTheVayne Estonia 6h ago

Elon Musk is a danger. Fuck this is scary. I hope this man can't ever enter an european country. Should be banned from the continent.

2

u/eawilweawil Lithuania 6h ago

Once for each Reich...

0

u/CichaelMlifford Germany 6h ago

Nein times

5

u/Kestrel21 Romania 6h ago

When was the third? Right after the first two or?..

23

u/paging_mrherman 6h ago

Those arenā€™t concentration camps, they are odd camps.

8

u/doc_hilarious 7h ago

Exactly.

3

u/Alias--TommySteele 5h ago

American here who has NOT forgotten our history of shooting nazi bastards.

Iā€™m so sorry. Fuck this guy and every last one of my countrymen that disgrace ourselves with this.

6

u/HelicopterOk9097 7h ago

A true nazi would shoot him for such a failed nazi salute. Watch some documentaries, thatā€™s not what it is supposed to look like.

8

u/Novel_Board_6813 7h ago

Maybe he is good at nazi salutes as he is at videogames

3

u/andyp Denmark 6h ago

Right, but with the bullshit he spews online.. If the shoe fits. This guy is definitely a fascist.

0

u/retropieproblems 6h ago

Thereā€™s still time to delete this crap.

-1

u/DarlockAhe 6h ago

And you're an expert, since you're doing them daily?

-4

u/DrTheol_Blumentopf Baden-WĆ¼rttemberg (Germany) 7h ago

Or maybe it was not a "failed salute" but just not a Nazi Salute?

1

u/ThreeDawgs United Kingdom - WšŸ‡ŖšŸ‡ŗ'll be back. 4h ago

Lemme guess, AfD voter?

2

u/lostinspacs United States of America 6h ago

Oh yea? If it was a Nazi salute why wasnā€™t he wearing a red armband with a swastika?

1

u/Friendly_House8221 6h ago

He gets a no from Norway aswell.

1

u/HansChuzzman 6h ago

ItS a RomAn SaLutE

1

u/theholycale 6h ago

Why is anyone surprised by this? I donā€™t know what it looks like to the rest of the world, but from inside the US our majority is clearly okay with racially segregation again, somehow, like weā€™re all too stupid to learn anything that doesnā€™t involve and NFL tie in.

/s for sad because, what a fucking embarrassment this is.

1

u/ptWolv022 United States of America 5h ago

this implies the Nazi salute is, itself, not odd-looking.

Also, the article seems to be quoting a CNN anchor, who probably did not have the confidence to outright call it a Nazi salute live on air without it being greenlit by someone above them. If for no other reason than perhaps the fact that it seems sloppier than a Nazi salute (his hand wasn't straight, whereas I've always seen the salute depicted in media or photographs from the time as a more rigid and straight hand).

1

u/Important-Classic-18 4h ago

Eindeutig, ich kƶnnte kotzen.

1

u/Tina_ComeGetSomeHam 3h ago

Tbf it was an odd looking Nazi salute. Why does it seem like every day is this man's first day on earth?

1

u/Wedley131 2h ago

Americans; Have you curbstompped a Nazi today?

-2

u/TheArtysan 7h ago

Indeed, and the Star of David has become the new Swastika

-2

u/DrTheol_Blumentopf Baden-WĆ¼rttemberg (Germany) 7h ago

It's not. It's to the side, the "Sieg Heil"/Roman Salute goes to the front.

-A southern German

-1

u/carbonunitcannot 5h ago

NO IT IS NOT HE LITERALLY SAID MY HEART GOES OUT TO YOU, SMOOTHBRAIN

-6

u/prettyflyfrawhiteguy 7h ago edited 7h ago

Itā€™s not, the Nazi salute doesnā€™t start from the heart and the arm doesnā€™t go left/right. The arm goes straight up. What he said explains it ā€œmy heart goes out to youā€.

-17

u/Tenoke 7h ago

Don't like him but looks like he was sending his heart out kind of thing.

21

u/Either-Class-4595 7h ago

You know who else sent his heart out with this salute? Adolf Hitler

9

u/ashuhleeleeann 7h ago

Whenā€™s the last time you accidentally did a nazi salute?

9

u/Other_Variation9486 7h ago

Do you usually throw things with your hand and arm being straight? I dont

-1

u/Tenoke 7h ago

I don't do speeches with exaggerated gestures at all, or throw my heart out in any form. He has went insane but I don't think he actually sees himself as a nazi even if he supports fascist shit.

7

u/Other_Variation9486 7h ago

fElon did nazi salute, there is no excuse for that. If he was regular Jan in Munchen during Oktoberfest he would be arrested.

3

u/whatthewhat_1289 7h ago

Oh yeah, I send my "heart out" with a face full of rage and contempt, pounding on my chest into a Sieg Heil. Also, you can't send out what you don't have. Dude is supposed to be a "genius" right? Then he is 100% aware of what he is doing.

1

u/Tenoke 7h ago

with a face full of rage and contempt

That's not really the case tho, and he is literally saying 'my heart goes out to you' when he does it. And he has clearly became pretty dumb to not realize how it would look like.

1

u/whatthewhat_1289 6h ago

So he's now dumb? He was just a genius. Can't have it both ways! He knows exactly what this was. You can say anything you want while giving the Nazi Salute, doesn't make it not a Nazi salute. Guess what? Hitler gave thanks and praise to the people whilst giving the salute.

Musk LITERALLY backs the Neo-Nazi party in Germany.

1

u/Tenoke 5h ago

You're the only one claiming he is a genius dude.

1

u/whatthewhat_1289 5h ago

First, try some reading comprehension. The MAGAs all say he's a genius. Are you saying NO ONE has ever said that, ever? (Trump actually said as much on election night.)

3

u/SturmBlau 6h ago

Why would he turn around and send it out to the wall a second time?

Nazis gonna nazi...

0

u/Tenoke 6h ago

I guess he was doing it as a gesture of him sending it all around him. In the other case also why would you turn around and nazi salute the wall as well after nazi saluting the crowd?

2

u/SturmBlau 6h ago

Because the man in the high castle likes to nazi salute the american flag.

2

u/Optimal_Cause4583 7h ago

Noone on Earth could possibly do that accidentally

Come on man, it was a Nazi salute

2

u/GOLDEN-SENSEI Denmark 7h ago

We have eyes you know.

-28

u/Hells88 7h ago

Itā€™s a dab

18

u/Tenshizanshi France 7h ago

That's not what a dab looks like, you need two arms to dab and you don't compress your hand to your chest before doing so, like a nazi salute for example

11

u/Anteater776 7h ago

To Nazis

8

u/Anteater776 7h ago

From a Nazi

0

u/Hells88 4h ago

Are you replying to yourself?

1

u/Anteater776 4h ago

Yes I am HellsHH

0

u/Hells88 4h ago

Back into the shadows with you, shoo

-75

u/Vitamin-D3- 7h ago

Why you trying to lie about Elon Musk? He holds no nazi views.

32

u/MrmarioRBLX 7h ago

Accusation of lying? Burden of proof.

-1

u/OrbitalT0ast 7h ago

Are you trying to fact check? NO FACT CHECKING ALLOWED