Donald Trump in new ‘Nazi salute’ controversy as former chief copies Musk at MAGA occasion
The spiritual leader of the MAGA movement Steve Bannon, 71, made the gesture in front of crowds of Donald Trump fans at the Conservative Political Action Conference
Donald Trump has been plunged into a second “Nazi salute” controversy after his former chief strategist copied Elon Musk’s gesture. Steve Bannon, who is credited as the brains behind the first Trump presidency, was speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) last night.
Bannon, 71, is considered the spiritual leader of the MAGA movement and has been fighting with Elon Musk for influence over Donald Trump. And while Bannon’s gesture was not as pronounced as Musk’s, there was no obvious reason for it beyond what many critics have called it.
In the moments before the “salute”, Bannon said: “The only way they win is if we retreat and we are not going retreat, we’re not going to surrender, we are not going to quit. Fight, fight fight.”
To cheers from the crowd, Bannon lifts his right arm up to above shoulder level and adds, “Amen”.
An X user who shared the video wrote in the caption: “Steve Bannon, after calling for Trump to be President for life, did a Nazi salute on stage at CPAC. Nazism has officially taken over the GOP.
“The few remaining conservatives have a choice: either leave the party and obstruct it – or choose to be complicit.”
One person commented: “And it was really weird too! I mean, he just suddenly did it out of the blue.”
A second said: “Our grandparents won in 1945, and we will do it again.”. While a third wrote: “just sending his heart out to someone somewhere, amirite (sic)”.
A month ago, Elon Musk caused a major controversy when he appeared to make a Nazi salute at a Trump rally celebrating the Orange Manbaby’s inauguration. Footage shows Musk placing his right hand on his heart before aggressively straightening his arm into what users are describing as a “Nazi salute”.
He made the “odd gesture” twice, one to the front of the crowd, and one with his back turned. In response to accusations swirling all over social media, Musk took to X – where else? – to make a bizarre comment. The billionaire wrote: “The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired. Frankly, they need better dirty tricks.”
Critics responded to the post, calling on Elon to be more thoughtful about his messages. One wrote: “Or you could just say, ‘Guys that’s not at all what I meant.’ I mean, there’s always the reasonable approach.”
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