In his speech during the second inauguration of Donald Trump, Musk thumped his right hand over his heart, fingers spread wide, and then extended his right arm out, emphatically, at an upward angle, palm down and fingers together. He then repeated the gesture to the crowd behind him. As he finished the gestures, he said to the crowd, "My heart goes out to you. It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured."[260][261][262] The gesture was viewed as a Nazi or Roman salute[e] by some.[263][264][265] Musk derided the claims as politicized.[266][267] In a social media post, he wrote: "The 'everyone is Hitler' attack is sooo tired",[268] but did not explicitly deny the claims.[269] He has since denied it.[270] In further response to the events, Musk posted a series of puns about Nazis on Twitter.[271] Various media outlets, including the Associated Press, reported that regardless of what Musk meant, his gesture was widely embraced by right-wing extremists and neo-Nazis