Elise Stefanik and Democrat Chris Murphy Go At It Over Elon Musk’s Sieg Heil-gate: ‘The American People Are Smart. They See Through It.’

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, sparred with Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) on Tuesday over his assertion that Elon Musk made a gesture associated with Adolf Hitler’s Germany on Inauguration Day.

“What do you think of Elon Musk, perhaps the president’s most visible advisor, doing two ‘Heil Hitler’ salutes last night at the president’s televised rally?” asked Murphy to kick off the exchange during Stefanik’s confirmation hearing.

Here’s how their testy exchange played out from there:

STEFANIK: No, Elon Musk did not do those salutes. I was not at the rally, but I can tell you I’ve been at many rallies with Elon Musk, who loves to cheer when President Trump says we need to send, you know, our U.S. space program to Mars. Elon Musk is a visionary. I’m looking forward to his work in DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, and look forward to looking how we can be more efficient and effective. But that is simply not the case, and to say so is-, the American people are smart, they see through it. They support Elon Musk. We are proud to be the country of such successful entrepreneurs. That is one of our greatest strengths as Americans.

MURPHY: Let me share with you what a few Americans have said about it. Evan Kilgore, a right-wing political commentator, wrote on X, “Holy crap, did Elon Musk just Heil Hitler at the Trump inauguration rally? This is incredible. We are so back.” Andrew Torba, who is the founder of the right-wing Christian nationalist social platform Gab, said “Incredible things are happening,” as he as he amplified the visual. The Proud Boys chapter in Ohio posted the clip on a Telegram channel with the text “Heil Trump.” A chapter of the white nationalist group White Lives Matter posted it on Telegram: “Thanks for hearing us, Elon. The white flame will rise again.

I could keep going. Over and over last night, white supremacist groups and neo-Nazi groups in this country rallied around that visual. Does it concern you that those elements of the neo-Nazi and white supremacist element in the United States believe that what they saw last night was a neo-Nazi salute?

STEFANIK: What concerns me is this is what, these are the questions you believe are most important to ask to the U.N. ambassador. I have a very strong record when it comes to combating anti-Semitism. We just had a historic election where President Trump earned historic support from American voters because of his strong leadership combating anti-Semitism, which has been a scourge across the country, skyrocketing since October 7th. So I intend to bring moral clarity to this position and continue to speak out as a voice, as a beacon of light

condemning anti-Semitism at the United Nations, which is representative of President Trump’s record and President Trump’s promises that he made on the campaign trail.

MURPHY: You are right. These are the questions I choose to ask, because I think that your work and the administration’s work on anti-Semitism only comes with real impact and credibility if it holds both right and left accountable. I simply don’t believe that if a member of the Squad made that same gesture last night, that there wouldn’t be commentary from you and others. So I want to make sure that our work has credibility. And credibility comes with calling anti-Semitism and anti-Semitism behavior out when it comes from both the right and the left.