While some celebrities amid controversy simply apologize or go silent, Elon Musk is leaning right into it with a Nazi joke when talking about the controversial ‘gesture’ he made at President Trump’s inauguration during an interview with Joe Rogan.
Weeks after making what many interpreted as a 'Nazi salute' at the 47th President’s inauguration, the now-head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) returned to The Joe Rogan experience podcast on February 28 and discussed the situation.
At around the 10:45 mark of the above podcast, when asked about his experience of buying X (formerly Twitter) for $44 billion and have its users call him a Nazi, Musk responded: “I did not see it coming”, pronounced in a way that “not” and “see” come together like “na-zi”.
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Following a burst of laughter from Rogan in response to the joke, the 53-year-old tech billionaire doubled down with “people will Goebbels anything down”, a reference to the Nazi Party’s chief propagandist and Reich Minister of Propaganda throughout World War II.
Although Musk had already made these jokes on an X post he made during late January 2025, delivering them in person has at least seemed to get the laughs he wanted out of Rogan.
Despite all the criticism Musk has received since Trump’s inauguration, Rogan still wasn’t afraid to come to his defence. Rogan said: “There's so many examples of people saying 'my heart goes out to' while motioning a similar gesture”, along with “You did it with a little enthusiasm that probably wouldn’t be recommended with hindsight….”
Musk replied with a clarification. He said: “It was obviously meant in the most positive spirit possible”, along with another joke saying that he can no longer point at things diagonally — only being able to do so straight ahead or directly above, telling people “now, you’ll have to divide that, because that’s where the space ship is”.
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As he mentions in the clip from the same podcast episode Musk shared in a later X post, saying “Hopefully, people will realize that I’m not a Nazi”.
In the same clip, after saying "you can’t escape tis bullsh***", Musk lays out distinctions that intend to make it clear he is not a Nazi. He said “What’s relevant about Nazis, is like, ‘are you invading Poland?’, and if you’re not invading Poland, maybe you’re not. Like, you have to be committing genocide and starting wars”.
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He added: “Like, what is bad about Nazis is that, it’s not- it wasn’t their fashion sense or their mannerisms… it was the war and genocide, not their mannerisms and their dress code”.
While there will undoubtedly be those who disagree with that statement, there are others still speaking in aid of Musk as well. One such group is Jewish rights group, The Anti-Defamation League.
In their own post on X, the group brings their own take saying: “This is a delicate moment. It’s a new day and yet so many are on edge. Our politics are inflamed, and social media only adds to the anxiety.”
The group followed with what seemed to be understanding for Musk. They added: “It seems that
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@elonmusk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge. In this moment, all sides should give one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt, and take a breath. This is a new beginning. Let’s hope for healing and work toward unity in the months and years ahead.”
Whether getting in front of the controversy and addressing it head on will help Musk move on from it remains to be seen. Maybe another Mike Myers impersonation of Elon Musk on SNL will help, but only time will tell for now.