Tech billionaire Elon Musk has come under fire after making back-to-back hand gestures resembling the Nazi salute during a speech celebrating the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump.

Addressing Trump supporters hours after the Republican was inaugurated as the 47th US president on Monday, Musk hailed the outcome of the US presidential election on November 4 as “no ordinary victory”.

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“This was a fork in the road of human civilization,” Musk said at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC.

“This one really mattered. Thank you for making it happen! Thank you.”

Musk then thumped his right hand into his chest before extending his arm in an upward angle with his palm down and fingers together.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO, who has been tasked with leading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency in Trump’s administration, then turned around to face the crowd behind him and repeated the gesture.

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Musk’s actions drew immediate scrutiny online, with some social media users accusing him of giving the infamous Sieg Heil salute associated with Adolf Hitler.

“This honestly could not look more like a Nazi salute,” British journalist and commentator Owen Jones said in a post on X.

The gesture also drew scrutiny in Israeli media, with the newspaper Haaretz saying Musk appeared to conclude his remarks with a “‘Roman salute,’ a fascist salute most commonly associated with Nazi Germany”.

Others defended Musk, including The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), one of the most prominent organisations dedicated to opposing anti-Semitism, which said the billionaire had made an “awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute”.

“In this moment, all sides should give one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt, and take a breath,” the ADL said in a post on X.

“This is a new beginning. Let’s hope for healing and work toward unity in the months and years ahead.”

Al Jazeera did not immediately receive a response to requests for comment sent to Musk’s lawyer and a number of his companies.

Musk’s politics have shifted sharply right since he publicly came out in support of Trump after the Republican narrowly survived an attempted assassination in July.

Earlier this month, the billionaire hosted Alice Weidel, the leader of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany, for a conversation on his social media platform X after endorsing her party in February’s national elections.

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