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Did Steve Bannon flash a Nazi salute at CPAC?

‘Someone try and convince me he didn’t,’ challenges a critic on X

Mary Papenfuss
in San Francisco
Saturday 22 February 2025 15:24 GMT
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Steve Bannon appears to flash quick Nazi salute at CPAC

Did right-wing podcaster and Donald Trump’s former White House strategist Steve Bannon flash a quickie Nazi salute during his speech Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)?

Countless observers sure thought so.

It wasn’t the defiant in-your-face salute tech billionaire Elon Musk hammered home in a speech honoring Trump the day of the president’s inauguration.

Extreme-right podcaster and Donald Trump's former White House strategist appears to flash a NAZI salute during his speech Thursday at CPAC in National Harbor, Maryland
Extreme-right podcaster and Donald Trump's former White House strategist appears to flash a NAZI salute during his speech Thursday at CPAC in National Harbor, Maryland (Screen Grab/CPAC Livestream/RSBN)

Bannon’s gesture was a fast flash of a stiff arm off to the side. The motion had no other obvious message than what seemed apparent.

He whipped out the salute after he emphatically urged the CPAC audience in National Harbor, Maryland to “fight, fight, fight.” When it drew applause, Bannon made a quick nod and responded: “Amen.”

Bannon called for a third term for Trump, and said leaders like him come along twice in history.

Joshua Reed Eakle, president of the Project Liberal organization, declared in a response to a clip on X: “Nazism has officially taken over the GOP.”

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gestures as he speaks during the inaugural event in Washington, DC, on January 20
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gestures as he speaks during the inaugural event in Washington, DC, on January 20 (Getty Images)

This is Trump’s America,” noted a post on X by grassroots political group Really American.

White nationalist Nick Fuentes characterized both Musk’s and Bannon’s gestures as a “Roman salute.” Nevertheless, he called it “sick” on his podcast Thursday, adding: "It's getting a little uncomfortable even for a guy like me!”

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