Steve Bannon blasted for allegedly throwing a Nazi salute during his CPAC speech: 'This isn’t accidental'

WASHINGTON, DC: Former Donald Trump White House strategist-turned-right-wing podcaster Steve Bannon is making headlines for what some are calling a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Nazi salute.

Bannon took the stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Thursday, February 20. While his speech itself was the usual firebrand fare, it was Bannon's quick, stiff-arm motion that had people raising their eyebrows. 

Steve Bannon appears to throw a Nazi salute while gushing about Donald Trump

Steve Bannon was rallying the MAGA troops at CPAC in National Harbor, Maryland. At one point, he passionately urged the crowd to “fight, fight, fight.”

The audience roared in response, and then he hit them with a quick salute-like motion off to the side. He followed it up with a nod and a simple “Amen.”

Bannon was all in on Donald Trump, but this time, he took it even further. “The future of MAGA is Donald J Trump,” Bannon declared, sending the audience into a frenzy.

“We want Trump in ‘28. That’s why they can’t stand [him]. A man like Trump comes along only once or twice in the country’s history! Right? We want Trump! We want Trump! We want Trump!”

He doubled down, “And we’re not gonna retreat. We’re not gonna surrender. We’re not gonna quit. Fight! Fight! Fight!”

Even far-right white nationalist Nick Fuentes had to pause for a second.

“Bannon gets up there – this was some sick s**t,” Fuentes said in a podcast after the speech. “Bannon gets up there and says, ‘I think Trump’s gonna run in ’28.’ He goes, ‘We want Trump,’ and then he throws up a straight-up Roman salute. It’s getting a little uncomfortable, even for me. Even I’m starting to feel like that guy in the picture that wouldn't hail Hitler.”

Steve Bannon slammed over his Nazi salute

The internet blasted Steve Bannon for what they saw as a blatant display of fascist symbolism.

"Steve Bannon, after calling for Trump to be President for life, did a Nazi salute on stage at CPAC. Nazism has officially taken over the GOP. The few remaining conservatives have a choice: either leave the party and obstruct it—or choose to be complicit," one social media user posted on X.

"This isn’t accidental. They know exactly what they’re doing. Don’t let them gaslight you," another wrote.

"If that's not a Nazi salute then what is? Bannon is an intelligent guy and knows that any arm movement of that kind like that will be seen that way," someone else offered. 

"Now Steve Bannon has thrown a Nazi salute. Let’s see people bend over backwards to excuse this. They are out here showing blatant Nazism," read a comment.

"Hilarious that there are people trying to pretend this isn’t explicitly and intentionally a Nazi salute. Bannon gives them a 'yeah, I just did that' nod after it, too," another insisted.

The Elon Musk controversy and the history behind the salute

Just last month, Elon Musk sparked similar outrage after making a much more aggressive version of the same salute right after Donald Trump’s inauguration. A week later, a priest at an anti-abortion rally reportedly did the same thing.

At the time, conservatives jumped to Musk’s defense, saying it was just a "Roman salute" or insisting he was simply overcome with enthusiasm. But as history professor Martin M Winkler pointed out in his 2009 academic paper titled "The Roman Salute: Cinema, History, Ideology", that excuse might not hold up.

"In the twentieth century, the Roman salute was the most familiar symbol of Fascism in Italy, Nazism in Germany, Falangism in Spain, and other right-wing or nationalist movements. Those executing this gesture extended their stiff right arm frontally and raised it to roughly 135 degrees from the body’s vertical axis," Winkler wrote.

"As will be seen, however, the term 'Roman salute' is a misnomer. Not a single Roman work of art—sculpture, coinage, or painting—displays a salute of the kind that is found in Fascism, Nazism, and related ideologies." 

It's worth noting that the gesture was actually used in the US for the pledge of allegiance before Congress quickly nixed it in 1942 during the rise of Nazi Germany, according to The Mirror.

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