Tech billionaire and Donald Trump's cabinet member Elon Musk is continuing to face criticism over his hand gesture during a celebration of Trump's inauguration which drew online comparisons to a "Nazi salute."
Musk dismissed criticism of the hand gesture as a "tired" attack.
Now, Musk's estranged daughter Vivian Wilson, who came out as transgender, has addressed the accusations surrounding her father's hand gesture during the event on Monday (January 21).
'Let's call a spade a f***ing spade'
In a series of posts on Instagram's platform Threads, Wilson, 18, appeared to reference the incident surrounding her father's alleged "Nazi salute."
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In the posts, Wilson did not name her father but hinted that she was responding to Monday's incident.
"I am just gonna say let's call a spade a f***ing spade," the 18-year-old said. “Especially if there were two spades done in succession based on the reaction of the first spade,” she added.
In a follow-up post on Threads, Wilson appeared to hit back at claims on social media that Musk's gesture could be explained because of his autism.
“I don’t know why ya’ll are reacting with such vigour, I’m clearly only talking about card suits,” Wilson said.
“I mean I have ADHD and this was CLEARLY just an accident that people happened to interpret to mean something other than just card suits. After all, there’s no proof I’m not just talking about card suits. People assuming that I’m not just talking about card suits just goes to show how dishonest people/the media can be," she added.
The hand gesture that sparked the controversy
During a celebration of Trump's inauguration, Musk took to the Capital One Arena stage in Washington to huge cheers, pumping his arms and shouting, "Yesssss."
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"This was no ordinary victory. This was a fork in the road of human civilisation," he said. "This one really mattered. Thank you for making it happen! Thank you."
Biting his bottom lip, he thumped his right hand over his heart, fingers spread wide, then extended his right arm out, emphatically, at an upward angle, palm down and fingers together. Then he turned and made the same hand gesture to the crowd behind him.
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"My heart goes out to you. It is thanks to you that the future of civilisation is assured," he said as he finished the gesture.
(With inputs from agencies)