What is the Heil Hitler salute? Bill Burr criticizes Elon Musk for giving a "shoutout to Hitler" during Trump's inauguration

In a recent appearance on the Friday, March 12, 2025, episode of The Breakfast Club, stand-up comedian, and podcaster Bill Burr opened up about Musk's controversial alleged N*zi hand gesture. Condemning the Tesla CEO for the same, Burr said that he had "Sieg Heiled twice" in public but "still has a job."

Bill Burr's interview came two months after Musk made a motion that many saw as a N*zi salute at President Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony.

Criticizing Musk and talking about the same, Bill Burr continued:

“What I don’t get is the amount of veterans, people in the armed services, that died trying to stop Hitler, and then this guy comes in, you know, and does that — while being an immigrant, too…"

He further emphasized that his disagreement with Musk is unrelated to politics. He then added:

"The whole thing, none of it tracks, how you can be, ‘Support the troops,’ ‘America, love it or leave it,’ and then this guy comes in and gives a shoutout to Hitler?”

In N*zi Germany, the N*zi salute, also referred to as the Hitler salute or the Sieg Heil salute, was a welcoming gesture supporting Hitler. Hitler's supporters used to raise their right arm from the shoulder into the air to perform the salute.

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Bill Burr criticized Musk and his alleged N*zi salute during Trump's January inauguration

The German phrase Der Deutsche Gruß is translated as "the Hitler salute," or more accurately, "the German salute." In the 1930s, N*zi Germany introduced the N*zi or Hitler salute as a way to honor Adolf Hitler.

The salutation was performed by straightening the hand so that it is parallel to the arm and then extending the right arm stiffly to an upward 45° angle. It was frequently accompanied in N*zi Germany by yelling or singing "Heil Hitler" or "Sieg Heil."

As per NY Times' January 25 report, the salute became the most widely used white nationalist hand symbol worldwide, having been used by neo-N*zi's and other white supremacists since World War II.

The salute came into focus many times in recent days, recently as Bill Burr spoke about it. He continued his publicity tour for his upcoming comedy special on Hulu as he went on to discuss Musk's Hail Hitler hand motion during his recent appearance at The Breakfast Club podcast.

Bill Burr claimed that after Musk allegedly did the salute, people just protested for a day and then they stopped.

“I’m not trashing Republicans. All Republicans did not Sieg Heil… I was just amazed that all liberals had was one day of outrage. Then they’re like, ‘Oh, I guess that didn’t work.’ And I guess we just kind of move on.”

This isn’t the first time that Bill Burr criticized Musk's controversial salute. Two days ago, on March 10, he dubbed Elon Musk an "idiot" and "evidently" being a N*zi during an appearance on the NPR show Fresh Air.

When asked who he was referring to, Bill Burr went ahead and named Musk, denouncing the latter's widely criticized hand motions from Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20. Burr stated:

“I just refuse to believe it was an accidental two-time Sieg Heil. And he does it at a presidential inauguration!”

The salute has always been controversial since Musk attempted it. In January 2025, Pastor Calvin Robinson lost his church licence after he was accused of mimicking the Tesla CEO's now infamous salute during a pro-life convention.

Many claimed that his gesture was a ripoff of Musk's alleged N*zi salute. The Anglican Catholic Church then defrocked Robinson on January 29, nine days after the incident, following his speech and the purported salute.

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Even though Musk didn't officially justify his actions of using the salute, he recently sparked another controversy related to the same. As per USA Today's March 14 report, he shared a post (now deleted) that implied that public servants, not the dictators themselves, were responsible for the mass murders committed under Hitler, Stalin, and Mao.