Elon Musk’s Mom Urges Him to Sue the Media?

Elon Musk is weighing legal action against major media outlets after they accused him of making a Nazi salute at a post-inauguration rally. His strongest supporter? His mother, Maye Musk.

During last week’s event at Capital One Arena in Washington, Musk, a close adviser to President Donald Trump, lifted his right arm in what critics claim resembled a fascist salute. The accusations quickly spread across mainstream networks, with figures like Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow leading the charge. Walz stated on-air, “Of course he did,” when asked if Musk’s gesture was a Nazi salute.

Musk has dismissed the controversy as absurd. “This is tired and ridiculous,” he tweeted, calling the media’s portrayal a “desperate smear attempt.”

Now, his mother wants him to fight back. Maye Musk, a vocal defender of her son, urged him to take legal action against networks including CNN and PBS for what she calls “malicious defamation.”

“They are deliberately misrepresenting him, and it needs to stop,” she said in a post on X, Musk’s social media platform. “I’ve been flooded with hate because of their lies.”

I have been receiving so much hatred because of the @CNN panel with @crampell yelling about Nazi salutes. @elonmusk , please sue them.
Thank you @ScottJenningsKY for trying to intervene with the truth. https://t.co/YsswNI7GSP

— Maye Musk (@mayemusk) January 29, 2025

The controversy escalated after a CNN segment in which Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell challenged Republican analyst Scott Jennings to mimic Musk’s gesture. Jennings refused. PBS’ NewsHour added to the fire, reporting Musk had made “what appeared to be a fascist salute.”

Some historians and advocacy groups have condemned Musk outright. Ruth Ben-Ghiat, an NYU professor specializing in authoritarian regimes, claimed his action was “a Nazi salute—and a very belligerent one.” Amy Spitalnick, head of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, argued that “the salute itself should be enough to warrant condemnation.”

Journalist Michel Friedman, a former president of the European Jewish Congress, warned of a troubling trend. “Taboos are being broken to a point that is dangerous for the entire free world,” he told Germany’s Tagesspiegel. Friedman also slammed Musk’s social media platform for allowing what he described as “masses of anti-Semitic content.”

The backlash against Musk isn’t just limited to the U.S. The billionaire has openly endorsed Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, which has been accused of downplaying the nation’s Nazi past. Over the weekend, Musk addressed an AfD rally, urging Germans to move beyond their “past guilt” over the Holocaust.

However, Musk also has his defenders. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the accusations as a “false smear.” The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) acknowledged Musk’s gesture was “awkward” but criticized him for making light of the situation with Nazi-related jokes online.

As the media firestorm intensifies, legal experts say Musk may have a case if he can prove intentional defamation. “If these outlets knowingly misrepresented him, a lawsuit could be viable,” said attorney Alan Dershowitz, a constitutional law scholar.

For now, Musk remains defiant. “Let them keep digging their own graves,” he posted Tuesday night. “The truth will win.”