Elon Musk addressed the public backlash he received after displaying a Nazi-like hand gesture at an inaugural celebration for President Donald Trump, defending himself by saying he is not a Nazi — while also making Nazi jokes.
“It was obviously meant in the most positive spirit possible,” Musk said of the gesture, which drew many comparisons to a Nazi salute, on an episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” released Friday.
Musk, the unelected overseer of Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency that’s tasked with making drastic cuts to federal jobs and spending, called media coverage of his gesture “coordinated propaganda.”
“Now I can never point at things diagonally,” Musk added.
Rogan also defended Musk’s hand gesture on the show, calling it “strange” that people would believe his guest would openly do a Nazi hand motion.
When asked how he felt about being called a Nazi on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter that he owns, Musk resorted to Nazi puns, telling Rogan, “I did not see it coming.”
“People will Goebbels anything down,” he added.
The men, both in their 50s, both broke out into laughter over the remarks.
The tech billionaire made similar jokes on X in January in response to the fallout over the hand gesture.
Later on in his interview with Rogan, Musk dismissed being called a Nazi.
“Hopefully people realize I’m not a Nazi. Just to be clear, I’m not a Nazi,” he said, laughing.
“What’s relevant about Nazis is, like, are you invading Poland? And if you’re not invading Poland, maybe you’re not,” he continued. “You have to be committing genocide and starting wars.”
Last year, Muskendorsed Germany’s far-right political party, the Alternative for Germany, whose leader, Björn Höcke, was convicted for a second time last year for knowingly using a Nazi slogan at a political event.