Elon Musk and Cory Booker made similar salutes but media reacted much differently

The media hyperventilated earlier this year when Elon Musk made a gesture that his critics from the left insisted was a Nazi salute, but have turned a blind eye to Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., doing a similar move. 

Musk was famously accused of doing the Nazi salute in January while celebrating President Donald Trump’s inauguration at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., when the Tesla mogul placed his hand over his heart and quickly extended it in a motion that startled liberal pundits. Booker made a similar gesture on Saturday when he capped off a speech to the California Democratic Party's convention by placing his right hand on his chest before raising it to the crowd. 

When Musk made the motion, he told the crowd he wanted to thank Trump supporters "from my heart to yours," but many quickly accused Musk of the Nazi-era salute.

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"That salute was evocative of things we’ve seen through history," CNN host Kasie Hunt said at the time. "It’s not something you typically see at American political rallies." 

CNN commentator Catherine Rampell accused Musk of making two "Sieg Heil" salutes.

Speaking with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, former Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz suggested Musk had given a "Nazi salute" at a Trump inauguration rally.

"Of course he did," Walz told Maddow. 

In contrast, as of Monday morning, CNN and MSNBC had ignored Booker’s gesture, according to a search of respective transcripts using Grabien. 

The New York Times ran a lengthy piece in January headlined, "What Elon Musk’s Salute Was All About," which asked, "So was it a Hitler salute or wasn’t it?"

"The straight-arm salute has meant very different things in different places and during different periods of history. But at a time when the far right is once again on the rise, the interpretation of this gesture being performed deliberately and publicly was straightforward — especially in Germany, where the salute’s history lingers most powerfully," Times Berlin bureau chief Katrin Bennhold wrote. 

The Times had not covered Booker’s gesture as of Monday morning. 

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The Associated Press published a headline, "Musk’s straight-arm gesture embraced by right-wing extremists regardless of what he meant," that declared the billionaire "elicited outrage" in Europe, where the salute "is associated with the hate, death and destruction of World War II." 

The AP had not put a spotlight on Booker’s gesture as of Monday morning. 

The PBS News Hour X account posted that Musk "gave what appeared to be a fascist salute." The Guardian ran the headline "Elon Musk appears to make back-to-back fascist salutes at inauguration rally." 

PBS and The Guardian have both ignored Booker’s gesture. 

Politico also covered Musk with the headline, "Elon Musk’s ‘Nazi’ salute sparks fury from Europe’s left wing," but has given a pass to Booker more than 24 hours after his gesture. 

The Washington Post published a report, "Elon Musk’s inauguration salute stokes debate in Congress, Europe," but has skipped the Booker gesture. 

USA Today, Reuters and Axios each also covered the Musk wave, but not Booker’s version. 

ABC News, NBC News and CBS News did not cover Booker’s gesture through Monday’s morning newscasts.

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Heritage Foundation media fellow Tim Young believes this is yet another "of the many instances where you see a clear media bias against anything related to Trump."

"Cory Booker and Elon Musk clearly made the exact same gesture, a wave that starts over their heart then ‘sends their love’ to the crowd they’re speaking to. Neither have ever supported Nazis nor the Nazi Party, but the media created the lie about Elon to support their false ‘Trump is literally Hitler’ narrative and refuse to associate that same narrative with any Democrat, no matter how exact the wave was," Young told Fox News Digital. 

"It’s exhausting to see how biased legacy media has become," Young continued. "Similar to covering up for Joe Biden’s obvious declining health, this is just a false narrative to degrade conservatives and make the left look like the winners."

Fox News Digital reached out to CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, AP, Axios, USA Today, Politico, Reuters, The Guardian, PBS and the Washington Post for comment.

Musk has noticed that Booker has gotten a pass. 

"Legacy media is one big psy op," Musk wrote on X Sunday. 

Musk hit back at the accusations in January, stating, "Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The 'everyone is Hitler' attack is sooo tired." 

While the media pounced, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) issued a statement defending Musk, saying that he had made an "awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute."

"In this moment, all sides should give each one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt and take a breath," the statement said. 

Booker’s team has attempted to downplay the similar hand gesture. 

"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. The differences between the two are obvious to anyone without an agenda," a Booker spokesperson told Forbes. 

Booker's office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. 

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton, David Spector, Gabriel Hays and Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.