My Chemical Romance’s Frank Iero has called out Elon Musk for the controversial gesture he made at Donald Trump‘s Presidential inauguration.
The incident took place on Monday (January 20), when the President-elect was sworn into the White House for the second time. During the inauguration, the tech billionaire and SpaceX and Tesla CEO expressed his happiness of the Republican victory and addressed the crowd with a speech.
“I just want to say thank you for making it happen,” he said, before slapping his chest with his right hand and extending his arm diagonally upwards with the palm facing down. The X/Twitter owner then turned around to crowd members behind the podium and repeated the gesture.
Many have compared the gesture to a Nazi salute signalling obedience to Adolf Hitler.
Among those speaking out against Musk amid the gesture is My Chemical Romance’s Frank Iero. Taking to Instagram last night (21), the guitarist shared a screenshot of the widely-televised moment.
“Fuck this guy and every single person supporting this shit or wasting any kind of breath attempting to defend it,” he wrote in the caption, before adding: “Your true colours are shining through. #SmashHate.”
Since the inauguration event, Musk – who has been an integral part of Trump’s election victory and was later appointed by the new POTUS to lead his new Department Of Government Efficiency – has spoken out against the backlash.
Although he has yet to formally denounce Nazism, he did take to X to agree with a tweet that read: “Can we please retire the calling people a Nazi thing? It didn’t work during the election, it’s not working now, it’s tired, boring, and old material, you’ve burned out its effect, people don’t feel shocked by it anymore, the wolf has been cried too many times.” He responded: “Yeah exactly 🥱.”
In a separate post on X, he wrote: “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired”.
Frankly, they need better dirty tricks.
The “everyone is Hitler” attack is sooo tired 😴 https://t.co/9fIqS5mWA0
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 21, 2025
This isn’t the first time that the tech mogul has been on the receiving end of backlash in this realm. Since his takeover of Twitter, which he soon rebranded as X, he has been criticised for letting pro-Nazi profiles thrive on the platform. The has also seen backlash for sharing right-wing memes and seemingly supporting anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
Outlets including AP News report that the latter led to an exodus of advertisers from the platform in 2023.
More recently, Musk endorsed Germany’s far-right populist AfD party. “Only the AfD can save Germany,” he wrote last month. The party has denied associations with Hitler, and Musk has urged people not to compare the AfD’s leader to the dictator.
Iero isn’t the only famous face to speak out against Musk following the events earlier this week. Yesterday, Grimes – the musician who was previously in a relationship with Musk and shares multiple children with him – distanced herself from him online.
“I am not him. I will not make a statement every time he does something. I can only send love back into a world that is hurting,” she wrote on X. “I’m happy to denounce Nazi-ism – and the far alt right. Would that help clear things up?”
I'm happy to denounce Nazi-ism – and the far alt right. Would that help clear things up? I've just gotten out of breakfast and have to catch a flight, and am still debating how to approach things diplomatically because I feel in over my head. But if there's concern about that,…
— 𝖦𝗋𝗂𝗆𝖾𝗌 ⏳ (@Grimezsz) January 21, 2025
Green Day also took aim at the billionaire while on stage in Johannesburg, South Africa, changing the lyrics to ‘American Idiot’ to take a jab at him. “I’m not a part of the Elon agenda“, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong sang, swapping out the “redneck agenda” line.
Trump has been compared to Hitler on numerous occasions, including by the likes of the aforementioned pop-punk trio, John Cleese and Stranger Things star Matthew Modine.
As for other My Chemical Romance news, last month Iero paid tribute to his late ex-bandmate Bob Bryar, who was found dead in his home aged 44.
Per TMZ, the drummer was discovered in his Tennessee home on November 26, after last being seen alive on November 4. The cause of death is not immediately known, but authorities have ruled out foul play, with his possessions, including musical equipment and weapons, untouched.