The Anti-Defamation League on Friday condemned the Nazi salute-like gesture that Steve Bannon made during his speech at the Conservative Policy Action Conference the day before, a stark contrast to the group’s declaration that a similar salute by Elon Musk a month ago was just an “awkward gesture.”
“Steve Bannon’s long and disturbing history of stoking antisemitism and hate, threatening violence, and empowering extremists is well known and well documented by ADL and others,” the group posted on X. “We are not surprised, but are concerned about the normalization of this behavior.” The post linked to ADL’s backgrounder on Bannon, which describes him as “a major influencer on the far right,” says that he “champions nationalists” around the world, calls him a “fierce critic of the Republican establishment and the left,” and chronicles inflammatory articles about “women, Muslims and other populations” published by Breitbart News when he was running it.
Bannon is a far-right firebrand who was a senior adviser to President Donald Trump during his first term and last year served four months in prison for contempt of Congress. He made the salute Thursday toward the end of a rambling 20-minute speech that resembled a pep rally. In the speech, he recited his usual list of grievances related to the 2020 election, called the Jan. 6 insurrection a “hoax,” attacked immigrants, lambasted the media and led a “We want Trump” chant.
“We’re not gonna retreat, we’re not gonna surrender, we’re not gonna quit. Fight! Fight! Fight!” Bannon said, pounding his left hand on the lectern. He then lifted his right hand diagonally, briefly pointed it outward, then lowered it and gave the crowd a nod. Then he said: “Amen! God bless you. You are amazing.”
“We’re not gonna retreat, we’re not gonna surrender, we’re not gonna quit. Fight! Fight! Fight!” Bannon said, pounding his left hand on the lectern. He then lifted his right hand diagonally, briefly pointed it outward, then lowered it and gave the crowd a nod. Then he said: “Amen! God bless you. You are amazing.”
The use of a sieg heil-like salute has been much discussed since Musk, the billionaire leading Trump’s current effort to slash federal spending and staff, sparked controversy by raising his right arm to thank the crowd of Trump supporters at a rally on Inauguration Day. It was a gesture that many neo-Nazis celebrated, but the ADL dismissed concerns about it. When Musk responded to critics a few days later by posting a series of Holocaust puns, the ADL condemned him for it.
Todd Gutnick, the ADL’s spokesperson, did not immediately respond to an inquiry Friday afternoon about what the difference was between Musk’s salute and Bannon’s.
Online, many reacted to Bannon’s gesture by comparing it to Musk’s — whose appearance onstage at CPAC immediately preceded Bannon’s.
Here’s video of Steve Bannon doing a Sieg Heil today at CPAC. It is what it is and it’s what Bannon intended. Don’t let yourself be gaslit. pic.twitter.com/LDT2kU43ZV
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 21, 2025
Bannon, a provocateur, is a former executive editor of Breitbart News, which he once called “the premier website of the alt-right.” His ex-wife accused him of antisemitism, saying he had a problem with how many Jewish people attended their daughter’s high school.
“He said that he doesn’t like Jews,” she reportedly said in a 2007 court filing, “and that he doesn’t like the way they raise their kids to be ‘whiney brats’ and that he didn’t want the girls going to school with Jews.”
