Grimes Clarifies Her Stance
Grimes has clarified her stance on Elon Musk’s controversial gestures resembling Nazi salutes at President Donald Trump’s inauguration – read more below.
Details of the Inauguration
Donald Trump was sworn in for the second time at the White House on Monday (January 20). During the inauguration, tech billionaire and SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who played a significant role in Trump’s election victory and was appointed by the new US president to lead the Department of Government Effectiveness, shared his excitement about Trump’s return to the presidency. “I just want to say thank you for making this happen,” he stated.
The owner of X/Twitter then slapped his chest with his right hand and swung his arm diagonally upward. Musk turned to address the crowd behind the podium before repeating the gesture.
His actions have since drawn comparisons to the Nazi salute, a gesture associated with obedience to Adolf Hitler. Grimes, Musk’s ex-partner and mother of his three children, has now responded to the ensuing controversy on social media.
Grimes responded to a fan on X, who sought clarification, explaining that she was unaware of Musk’s gesture since she wasn’t online or watching the inauguration: “While I deeply respect your concerns, it’s not healthy for people to be this upset, even though I haven’t been online yet and am just now learning about this contradiction. I don’t know what happened and won’t make sweeping statements – I’m not a citizen of this country.”
She added that she wouldn’t respond immediately as she required time to “study the situation” and did not want to “say something that would cause an international scandal.” However, she emphasized that she shouldn’t be held accountable for his actions: “I’m not him. I won’t make a statement every time he does something. I can only send love back to a world that is hurting.”
While I deeply respect your concerns, it’s unhealthy that people are getting so upset when I haven’t even been online yet today and am only now learning about this controversy. I don’t know what happened, and I won’t make rash statements – I’m not a citizen of this country…
— ⏳ (@Grimezsz) January 21, 2025
A few hours later, Grimes replied to another fan, elaborating her views on the subject: “I’m happy to condemn Nazism – and the far right. Will this help clear things up? I just finished breakfast, I have a plane to catch, and I’m still debating how to approach things diplomatically because I’m feeling out of sorts. But if there are concerns about it, I’m happy to set the record straight in a meaningful way.”
I am happy to condemn Nazism – and the far right. Will this help clear things up? I just finished breakfast, I have a plane to catch, and I’m still debating how to approach things diplomatically because I’m feeling out of sorts. But if you have concerns about this…
— ⏳ (@Grimezsz) January 21, 2025
Elon Musk has not yet made an official condemnation of Nazism, and on X, he agreed with a tweet that read: “Can we please stop calling people Nazis? It didn’t work during the election, it doesn’t work now, it’s tired, boring and old stuff, you’ve burned out its effect, people don’t feel the shock of it anymore, they’ve cried wolf too many times.” He replied: “Yes, exactly 🥱.”
In another instance on X, he commented on the criticism: “Frankly, they need dirtier tricks. The ‘everyone is a Hitler’ attack is sooooo boring.”
Frankly, they need dirtier tricks.
The “everyone is a Hitler” attack is sooooo boring 😴 https://t.co/9fIqS5mWA0
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 21, 2025
Musk has faced scrutiny in the past for permitting pro-Nazi profiles to flourish on X/Twitter, sharing right-wing memes and allegedly promoting anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Reports have indicated that this latter issue led to a significant loss of advertisers from the platform in 2023.
Most recently, Musk backed Germany’s far-right populist AfD party, stating, “Only the AfD can save Germany,” he wrote last month. However, the party denies any links to Hitler and Musk urged people not to draw comparisons between the AfD leader and the dictator.
Trump has frequently been compared to Hitler, including by bands such as Green Day, John Cleese, and Stranger Things star Matthew Modine.
https://www.nme.com/news/music/grimes-says-shes-happy-to-denounce-nazi-ism-following-ex-partner-elon-musks-controversial-salute-i-am-not-him-3830901?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=grimes-says-shes-happy-to-denounce-nazi-ism-following-ex-partner-elon-musks-controversial-salute-i-am-not-him
