Elon Musk's father defends his son's alleged 'Nazi gesture'

The Musk family continues to be controversial, with Elon and Errol Musk proving to be as divisive as ever.

As well as being the world's richest man, Elon Musk finds himself in a new position of power thanks to his role as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency.

That's not the only reason he's in the news, with him potentially having two new children revealed in the past two weeks, wielding a chainsaw at the Conservative Political Action Conference, and lurking in the background of Donald Trump pictures.

One of his biggest controversies involved accusations he performed a 'Nazi salute' at President Trump's January 20 inauguration celebrations. There's been backlash from Tesla owners and Musk's own daughter, but defending his son, Errol Musk thinks it's all a misunderstanding.

Errol Musk defends his son Elon Musk's 'salute':

"It means my right hand is empty, I do not carry a weapon"

Errol Musk joined us for an exclusive interview where he says that people have misinterpreted @elonmusk's gesture and was not meant to replicate a Nazi salute. #ElonMusk pic.twitter.com/pfvhPnYR4k

— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) February 24, 2025

Speaking to Al Arabia, Errol Musk says that Elon was struggling to get through his inauguration speech and was trying to look charming.

Discussing the situation, Errol Musk referred to his son as a 'terrible' public speaker who apparently "has a lot to learn."

Saying that he also struggled with public speaking when he first started, Errol Musk continued: "I know him very well, that he was struggling to get through his little speech as fast as possible and to try and look as charming as possible as he could, you know, but he's.

“He struggles. He's not. He hasn't reached the incredibly smooth level of people like yourself, who are years of experience, can talk very well."

As for the controversial gesture, Errol added: "It was not a Nazi (salute). It was an international salute that we've had for maybe the last 10,000 years, more, perhaps.

“And the old German Hail Caesar, of course, obviously emanated from, no doubt from the Persians, the Sumerians and so on. It simply meant, my right hand is empty. I do not carry a weapon."

He goes on to bizarrely claim that other political leaders have pulled off the same gesture, echoing an X post that shows Barack Obama, Elizabeth Warren, Hillary Clinton, and Kamala Harris with their arms in the air.

Can someone direct me to the articles where the media expressed outrage over this? Can’t find any… pic.twitter.com/ivBzKGHhQr

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 21, 2025

Errol Musk concluded: "Kamala Harris doing exactly the same thing. Nobody seemed to be bothered with it when. When they did it. And whereas Elon was a thrusting out of his arm.

“There's his actual, you know, sort of like this, which is more like the original Hitler one or something. You know, the. The. The Hail Caesar one was like this, you know, and so on. No, no, it was nonsense. But. But somewhat comical that they picked it up like that, so it's a bit funny."

Errol Musk's defence of his son comes after he's previously branded him a 'bad' father. Elon's dad spoke about the death of the billionaire's first son and claimed that his children were left with nannies too much.

Elon and Errol Musk have something of a strained relationship, although the latter comes to his son's defence at the most unexpected times.