If it was standalone event you could perhaps argue it was accidental. But the fact that he is supporting Afd who had done similar things in the past where they run a campaign, and make nazi symbolism in such a way that it would be barely legal, but at the same time obvious to everyone what they are referring to, it is pretty damning.

Everyone who saw the speech, saw the three (!) Heil Hitlers and the ensuing smirk that said “whatcha gonna do, suckers?”.

Pretending at equivocating just to troll will tank your own credibility.

I'm curious if you know what a Nazi salute looks like? Make a comparison by looking it up, he does the salute twice.

Of course you can argue in bad faith because it costs you nothing to be wrong but does that imply you are promoting this behavior? Seems like the obvious implication

The media is outraged because a duck quacks like a duck

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy48v1x4dv4o I really don't buy it, it just looks like an awkward gesture. From the article:

But the Anti-Defamation League, an organisation founded to combat antisemitism, did not agree.

"It seems that Elon Musk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute," it posted on X.

You mean the German newspaper Zeit with headlines like "Ein Hitlergruß ist ein Hitlergruß ist ein Hitlergruß"

It WAS a Nazi salute, and claiming otherwise is textbook gaslighting.