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Elon Musk's arm gesture, which seemingly looked like a Nazi salute at President Donald Trump's inauguration event, continues to go viral on social media. Now, the tech mogul has dragged Taylor Swift into the controversy.
Musk has since reposted pictures of prominent figures with their arms raised on his X account, and the last one he shared on Wednesday, January 22, was of Swift at a concert with her right arm raised in front.
His repost of Taylor Swift's picture sparked a backlash among the pop star's fans and other netizens, calling Musk's action the "dumbest defense."
"They've all been doing this, just grabbing random screenshots of people's with their hands in the air. Dumbest possible defense I can think of tbh," a Reddit user commented.
More netizens also called Elon Musk a "clown" and his actions "pathetic," noting that he was spreading misinformation by sharing a still from Taylor Swift's video. They also urged the tech mogul to share Swift's video and not just the picture for context.
"What a clown. It's pathetic the only way he and the other republicans can defend themselves are through lies and misinformation. Why not show it as a video Elon??," a Reddit user wrote.
"Please don't make me defend Taylor Swift. Getting a still from the perfect frame in a VIDEO isn't the same as hitting that sh*t twice. (And looking like a f**king dork while doing it.)," another user on Reddit commented.
The video fans were referring to was of The Tortured Poets Department singer with her hand raised, waving to her fans at a concert. Netizens pointed out the same in their comments to Musk's repost, adding that it was nothing like the Nazi Sieg Heil salute that he reportedly did at Trump's event earlier in the week.
"She was waving to fans nice try," a user on X commented.
"I absolutely f**king hate Elon Musk, he did a Hitler salute and is somehow trying to turn this onto Taylor swift," another user on X wrote.
"Huh, I wonder why everyone is sharing a *video* of Elon Musk but you're only sharing a *photo* of Taylor Swift? Maybe because yours shows a wave that looked absolutely nothing like a Nazi salute, unless you freeze the split second when she was opening and closing her hand?," an X user added.
Elon Musk previously made headlines for doing the alleged Nazi salute after his speech at Donald Trump's inauguration event
X, SpaceX, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk raised eyebrows with the salute gesture he made after giving a speech during Donald Trump's inauguration festivities in Washington, D.C., on Monday, January 20.
After speaking briefly to celebrate Trump's win and thanking all the supporters who voted for Trump, he appeared to grab his chest and forcefully extended his right arm into the air. He also repeated the same gesture to the audience on the other side.
Videos of Musk's speech and salute gesture went viral, with some social media users associating the gesture with the Nazi salute, sparking even more disagreements. On January 21, the Tesla and SpaceX boss addressed the Nazi salute controversy in a post he made on X, saying:
"Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The 'everyone is Hitler' attack is sooo tired."
As the head of the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk promised a "very exciting" future during his speech at the Capital One Arena on January 20. He also promised to help "make the future good" and to bring DOGE to Mars.
