On Thursday, German political activists claimed to have projected the word “Heil” and Elon Musk’s famed raised-arm gesture onto the exterior of his Tesla factory.
The German group the Center for Political Beauty and British activists Led by Donkeys posted images and video of the protest action they claimed to have staged late Wednesday.
The word “heil” is seen projected onto the factory near Berlin in the font of the automaker’s logo to spell the message “Heil Tesla,” a reference to the Nazi greeting that honored Adolf Hitler.
Musk has denied that the gesture he made on Monday, the day of US President Donald Trump’s inauguration, was similar to the Nazi salute.
The Center for Political Beauty’s founder, Philipp Ruch, told AFP that Musk had performed “a Hitler salute, just like American neo-Nazis have been practising for years”.
Musk has called any comparisons between the Nazi salute and his gesture which he repeated and accompanied by the words “my heart goes out to you” to the audience—”dirty tricks” and “propaganda”.
Musk has already garnered fire in Germany for his vocal backing for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and regularly criticizing German political leaders on his X.
With Germany in the midst of an election campaign, Musk has hailed the AfD as the “last ray of hope for the country”. He also sponsored a discussion with AfD top contender Alice Weidel on X.
