On January 23, 2025, a provocative image of Elon Musk giving a hand gesture that can easily be deciphered as a Nazi salute on Tesla’s Gigafactory Berlin. With the slogan “Heil Tesla” this stunt was performed by the British political duo Led By Donkeys and the German activist organization Center for Political Beauty. The projection was to escalate awareness of Musk’s perceived political ties, and his impact on democracy in Germany.
Tesla Berlin Factory Faces Backlash Over Projected Image of Elon Musk
The said gesture happened during the car parade in support of the inauguration of the then President of the United States, Donald Trump, in which Musk thrust his chest and pointed his arm toward the crowd. This motion was quickly compared to the infamous Nazi salute despite Musk rejecting the comparison stating that they are pathetic dirty tricks propaganda. After that, he tweeted on X, “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks.” The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired”.
Tesla Gigafactory, Berlin – right now!
In cooperation with @ByDonkeys pic.twitter.com/2zQoUV0GRY
— Zentrum für Politische Schönheit (@politicalbeauty) January 22, 2025
The protesters from both groups placed a large blow-up image of Musk’s face along with a collection of his tweets and public statements they claimed promoted far-right ideologies. Philipp Ruch from the Center for Political Beauty said that Musk is mimicking American neo-Nazis who have been known to make such gestures. He added that such a gesture cannot be seen as harmless, for it has a lot of political connotations in the current world.
The Impact on Elon Musk
The timing of this protest seems rather relevant because Germany is heading to a decisive election on February 23 and the far-right party, AfD is leading the polls. Criticisms of Musk continued after the multi-billionaire openly supported the AfD by labeling it as the ‘last hope for the country.’ This week, Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated that freedom of speech is essential, but nobody should support extreme right positions.
The projection has elicited a lot of controversy in as much as free speech in contrast to responsibility for one’s body language and words. For the supporters of Musk, the actions can be attributed to excessive excitement or genuine friendly intentions, which is why there is no need to look for the signs of fascism.
Nevertheless, regarding the events mentioned above, people have solicited various responses. Critics in political circles dismissed it as reckless while others seek to dismiss it as cultural sensitivity issues, or the effect of Elon Musk’s autism.
Also, one of Musk’s estranged daughters Vivian Wilson on Twitter criticized the behavior of her father without directly mentioning him. She opined that while such gestures may seem harmless on the surface, further meaning should not be overlooked.
This way, it becomes apparent that in contemporary society, popular culture personalities remain an important mediator between political actuality and historical amnesia. The projection at Tesla Berlin Gigafactory functions as a political statement and art installation in that it casts light on the identity and political affiliations of its founder Elon Musk and more profoundly calls into question the role of celebrity leaders in setting and dictating terms of public discourse.
Conclusion
It is necessary to note that Elon Musk remains both warmly welcomed and hotly debated in both the spheres of business and politics; however, the given event is a definite signal that actions should not be underestimated in the context of a political discourse that has become increasingly sensitive of late. While Germany is set to hold its election, the attention paid to Musk’s case is poised to escalate and continue the conflict between Democracy and the rise of populism.
