Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist for Donald Trump, has sparked controversy after appearing to perform a Nazi salute at the conclusion of a fiery speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Thursday.
The moment, captured on video and shared widely on social media, has reignited debates about the influence of far-right extremism within the Republican Party.
“The future of MAGA is Donald Trump!” Bannon declared to the crowd. “A man like Trump comes along only once or twice in the country’s history. We want Trump! We want Trump!”
As the audience cheered, Bannon raised his arm in a gesture that many observers likened to a Nazi salute. The moment was met with immediate backlash online.
“This is what fascism looks like,” wrote the Republicans against Trump X page in response to Bannon’s remarks.
“Steve Bannon does a Nazi salute at the end of his CPAC speech. Someone try and convince me that he didn’t,” wrote social media personality Brian Krassenstein on X.
Political strategist Chris D. Jackson echoed the sentiment: “This isn’t accidental. They know exactly what they’re doing. Don’t let them gaslight you.”
The incident comes amid growing concerns about the Republican Party’s alignment with far-right ideologies.
Joshua Reed Eakle, an X user who shared the video, wrote: “Nazism has officially taken over the GOP. The few remaining conservatives have a choice: either leave the party and obstruct it—or choose to be complicit.”
Bannon’s gesture also drew comparisons to past controversies involving high-profile figures accused of using fascist imagery.
Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X and Tesla, faced criticism in January for a gesture at Trump’s inauguration that some likened to a Nazi salute. Musk defended himself at the time, calling the comparison "The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is soo tired."
Bannon, in a recent interview with British outlet Unherd, called Elon Musk a “parasitic illegal immigrant”. Bannon accused Musk of trying to “impose his freak experiences and play-act as God without any respect for the country’s history, values, or traditions.”
In 2016, TV commentator Laura Ingraham ended a speech endorsing Trump with a similarly rigid arm gesture, which she later dismissed as unrelated to Nazi symbolism.
