Elon Musk blasts CNN for lack of outrage over Cory Booker's 'Nazi salute' after he was slammed for same

AUSTIN, TEXAS: Tech billionaire Elon Musk slammed CNN for its lack of outrage over Sen Cory Booker's alleged 'Nazi salute', a similar gesture for which the Tesla CEO faced flak in January.

During President Donald Trump's celebration of his second presidential term in January, Musk boasted about the win in a speech, which concluded when he placed his right hand over his heart, and then shot it into the air, which led to criticism.

Elon Musk calls out CNN for no outrage over Cory Booker's 'Nazi salute'

On May 31, Cory Booker was speaking at the California Democratic Convention, where he ended his speech by placing his hand on his heart and extending his arm toward the crowd, per Radar Online.

Many people on the internet thought the motion resembled the same gesture that Musk did during his rambling earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Maya Krishna-Rogers, spokesperson for Booker, clarified in a statement, per Newsweek, "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."

She added, "The differences between the two are obvious to anyone without an agenda."

However, Musk wasn't convinced by it and took to his platform X (formerly Twitter) to complain.

On Monday, the tech billionaire reshared a video of CNN's past coverage of Musk's gesture, which included the network's Jim Acosta, and said, "Who's in charge at CNN?"

In the video, Acosta said while speaking to Rep Robert Garcia, "(Musk) used a hand gesture that looked like a Nazi salute," and Garcia replied, "That was a Nazi salute... if you talk to anyone like historians, folks study the Nazis and study this actual kind of disgusting display, they’ve been very clear about what that was."

He added, "He should not just apologize. He should be condemned for those kinds of actions. So gross. Disgusting."

Interestingly, over the weekend, Musk was furious over the lack of backlash as he quote-tweeted a post about the incident and wrote, "Legacy media lies."

He also took a jibe at Democrats and shared a post showing former President Barack Obama, Sen Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, and Hillary Clinton with their arms extended. The caption read, "We know where Cory Booker learned his Nazi salute from."

Elon Musk defended his 'Nazi Salute' gesture

In May 2025, Elon Musk defended his 'Nazi Salute' gesture during a sit-down interview with CNBC, per Radar Online.

During the conversation, David Faber told Musk that "there are a lot of people who dislike you, some of whom were your customers," and asked the former DOGE head if leading the department was worth it.

The tech billionaire said, "What I've learned is that legacy media propaganda is very effective at making you believe things that aren't true" and shared one rumor that spread like wildfire, "That I'm a Nazi."

"And how many legacy media publications... tried to claim that I was a Nazi because of some random hand gesture at a rally? All I said was that 'my heart goes out to you,' and I was talking about space travel," Musk said.

He further added, "In fact, every politician, any public speaker who has spoken for any length of time has made the exact same gesture."