A SOMERSET MP says she was “shocked and appalled” by Elon Musk’s apparent Nazi salute during an event in the US yesterday (January 20).

Musk, who owns social media site X (formerly Twitter), told supporters the election victory for President Donald Trump was “a fork in the road of human civilisation” before slapping his open hand to his heart and raising high in front of him, arm locked out.

The symbol is unmistakable as that of a ‘Sieg heil’ (hail to victory), ‘Roman’, or ‘Nazi’ salute, made famous by Adolf Hitler and commonly associated with far-right and neo-Nazi affiliation.

It came as Musk prepares to take up a role in the Trump administration, at the helm of a newly-created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

After the salute was screened live, it was met with dismay by many, including Somerset MP Anna Sabine (Frome & East Somerset), who said: “I was shocked and appalled to see Elon Musk’s apparent Nazi salute yesterday.

“On the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day, to see someone at the heart of the US Administration performing such an action is truly horrifying.

“I’ve though hard about what I can do about this, and I’ve decided my response will be to keep working every day espouse the values of liberty, democracy and rule of law, and like my Lib Dem colleagues I’ll be raising this in Parliament whenever I can.”

After the gesture, Musk said on X: “The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo (sic) tired.”

However, when the billionaire later posted clips of the speech on his social media platform, the salute was edited out – replaced by a crowd shot.

Elsewhere, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said it believed Musk had made an “awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute” and called for a “new beginning”.

But others were not so willing to offer the benefit of the doubt.

Jerry Nadler, a high-profile US Congressman representing New York, said: “I never imagined we would see the day when what appears to be a Heil Hitler salute would be made behind the Presidential seal.

“This abhorrent gesture has no place in our society and belongs in the darkest chapters of human history.

“I urge all of my colleagues to unite in condemning this hateful gesture for what it is: antisemitism.”

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And Max Kaiser, executive officer of the Jewish Council of Australia, said he believed it was a Nazi salute.

“It was a clear signal to his rabid white nationalist and neo-Nazi followers that he aligns with their values,” he told Al Jazeera. “His platform ‘X’ is well known for promoting racist neo-Nazi content and he has recently endorsed the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) German political party.

“We should all be very concerned that the right-hand man of the most powerful person in the world is a Nazi.

“The ADL continue to disgrace themselves by defending Musk’s gesture while baselessly attacking expressions of pro-Palestinian solidarity as anti-Semitic.”

Just last week, Musk hosted an interview with AfD leader Alice Weidel on X.

AfD is a far-right German political party whose claims include “the concept of a multi-cultural society has failed”, and that “Islam does not belong to Germany. Its expansion and the ever-increasing number of Muslims in the country are viewed by the AfD as a danger to our state, our society, and our values”.

It opposes same-sex marriage and introduced a parliamentary motion to ban the display of rainbow flags on public buildings.

The party also denies climate change and wants to reintroduce conscription in Germany.