Tech mogul Elon Musk, an ally of President Donald Trump, accused the “legacy media” of double standards and for unfairly scrutinizing him for a gesture similar to one recently made by Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., The Hill reported.
Musk alleged hypocrisy in coverage surrounding an arm gesture by Booker on Saturday during the California Democratic Convention. Booker placed his hand on his heart before extending his arm outward.
The moment quickly circulated on social media, drawing comparisons to a gesture Musk made on Inauguration Day that had been interpreted by some as a Nazi salute.
Unlike Booker, Musk faced criticism and headlines questioning his intent. Responding Sunday on his platform X to screenshots comparing the two events and the differing media reactions, Musk wrote, “Legacy media like Newsweek lie relentlessly.”
One user posted side-by-side headlines: Musk’s gesture was widely scrutinized, while Booker’s received no major media attention.
“Terrible legacy media and how they went after Elon Musk. Now they are defending Cory Booker for the same hand gesture,” the user wrote. Musk replied by reposting it with the phrase, “Fate loves irony, but hates hypocrisy.”
“Legacy media is one big psy op,” Musk added in response to a user listing major outlets that covered Musk’s gesture but not Booker’s.
Musk also reposted a collage showing several prominent Democrats — including former President Barack Obama, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., former Vice President Kamala Harris, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — making similar gestures at past events.
The original post read, “We know where Cory Booker learned his Nazi salute from.” Musk reposted it with a face-with-raised-eyebrow emoji.
Critics of the media’s response voiced similar frustrations.
“If Elon Musk is a Nazi for doing this gesture … Cory Booker is one, too. Sorry, I don’t make the rules,” one user wrote. Musk reposted that as well.
Booker’s office dismissed the controversy.
“Cory Booker was obviously just waving to the crowd. Anyone who claims his wave is the same as Elon Musk’s gesture is operating in bad faith,” Maya Krishna-Rogers, spokesperson for Booker, told Newsweek in an emailed statement Sunday. “The differences between the two are obvious to anyone without an agenda.”
Said Musk: “I was talking about space travel, and yet the legacy media promoted that as though that was a deliberate Nazi gesture, when in fact, every politician, any public speaker who’s spoken for any length of time, has made the exact same gesture.”
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