So, did Elon Musk really do that?
If you, like so many, witnessed what was widely interpreted as a Nazi salute (or just a deeply weird gesture, according to the Anti-Defamation League) then I'm sure you too were left aghast. Personally, it was the only moment from the inauguration to get a mention across various group chats.
Musk appeared to deny it. But that didn't stop actual neo-Nazis from being downright giddy about it.
Whatever the hell Musk did or did not do, it arrived among a stream of ghoulish scenes prompted by Donald Trump's first day in office. There were the MAGA influencers. Bootlickers. The unimaginable cruelty already revealing itself at the border. But one image appeared to capture the day unlike any other. As Tim Murphy writes:
The image that will define the day, and perhaps this entire era of politics, was the rows of seats behind Trump. The front row was simple enough—that was reserved for past presidents and vice presidents and their families, and the Trump and Vance clans. In the back were members of his future cabinet (the wealthiest collection of bureaucrats ever assembled). Sandwiched between them was a pastiche of American oligarchy—a demonstration of both the influence and subservience of wealth in Trump’s second term.
These billionaires were propped between former heads of state and future cabinet officials, like benighted stewards of the American system—a special fourth branch of government.
So there you have it. The stagecraft that ushered in the Trump oligarchy. That and a maybe Nazi salute.
—Inae Oh
P.S. We'd love to invite you to a post-inauguration chat, led by David Corn, about what our reporters saw on the ground as the Trump administration takes shape. That discussion will take place via Zoom on Wednesday, January 22, at 7 p.m. ET. Please make sure to RSVP!
