Elon Musk hand gesture: Billionaire slammed for making 'Nazi Sieg Heil salute' during his Trump inauguration speech - and editing it out from own video

Musk shocked many - including those watching at Washington DC's Capital One Arena - when he put his hand on his chest, then stretched out his arm with an open hand. To many it appeared Musk had performed a fascist salute - familiar to most from their use by the Nazis in reverence to Adolf Hitler. Many interpreted it as resembling the Nazi "Sieg Heil" salute.

"Sieg Heil" is a German phrase that translates to "Hail Victory." The Nazi Party in Germany adopted the phrase, which became one of its most widely used and notorious slogans (often used to accompany the Nazi salute).

He posted the video of his speech on X, formerly Twitter, with one user responding saying: “That was definitely a Nazi salute. Big fan of Tesla Skeptical of Elon But that was the most awkward thing I’ve seen no matter how excited he was”.

However, others have suggested he was merely gesturing that his "heart goes out" to the crowd. He was also slammed for editing his own video which he posted on X.

In his speech the billionaire made the gesture twice. However, this is missing from his nearly four-minute speech video he posted on X. Only the second gesture is captured in the footage, followed by Musk saying "My heart goes out to you" to the crowd.

Users noticed this on X, with one saying: “Notice how Elon edited his video to remove that part. What a creep and hypocrite.“

During his speech, Musk praised Trump's inauguration event - particularly the 47th president's declaration to colonize Mars. Musk has previously stated on several occasions his obsession with conquering the red planet with his SpaceX tech company.

During his speech, Musk also noted: "Some elections are important, some are not. But this one, this one really mattered and I just want to say thank you for making it happen,” Musk said before putting his hand on his chest and then raising it in a salute that appeared similar to the “Sieg Heil” used by Nazis at their victory rallies.

“It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured," Musk said. Musk has made no reference to the motion, though the unedited clip has been shared thousands of times, racking up millions of views across different videos.