According to Steve Bannon, He Did Not Give a Nazi Salute — That's Just How He Waves

It seems as if members of the Republican party cannot stop making hand gestures that look eerily similar to a Nazi salute. It started in January 2025, when tech billionaire Elon Musk made what appeared to be a Sieg Heil salute while speaking at a post-inauguration celebration for President Donald Trump. It was met with criticism and led to multiple comparisons to Adolf Hitler. Elon responded by taking to X in order to post several Nazi-related puns.

Exactly one month later, podcast host Steve Bannon was engaging in similar behavior. The former chief strategist to President Trump was giving a lukewarm speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) when he raised his right arm diagonally. Did he give the Nazi salute?

The one difference between Musk's and Bannon's arm movements is the fact that before Elon extended his arm, he placed it over his heart. Bannon skipped that part. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the way that Bannon extended his arm is more consistent with what Nazis, as well as the people of Germany, were doing during the Greater Germanic Reich.

Regardless of whether or not Bannon was giving a Nazi salute, others have chosen to believe that was his intent. French far-right National Rally president Jordan Bardella was scheduled to speak at CPAC but backed out. "While I was not present in the room, one of the speakers allowed himself, out of provocation, a gesture referring to Nazi ideology," he said in a statement. "As a consequence, I made the immediate decision to cancel my speech," per the Associate Press.

The following day, Bannon spoke with Le Point news magazine, as reported by the AP, and said he didn't give a Nazi salute. It was a "wave like I did all the time." He added, "I do it at the end of all of my speeches to thank the crowd." Regarding Bardella's choice to scrub his speech, Bannon said "If he canceled because I waved to the crowd like I did at the Front National seven years ago ... he’s not a man and he will never be the leader of France."