Elon Musk's daughter Vivian Wilson responds to controversy over father’s salute

Vivian Wilson, the 20-year-old transgender daughter of billionaire Elon Musk, has responded to the controversy surrounding her father’s recent inauguration salute. 

Wilson, 20, who legally disassociated from Musk after transitioning, took to Threads to share her fiery take. While not mentioning Musk by name, she heavily criticized the double-arm motion, suggesting it was intentional. Mocking defenses that blamed the gesture on Musk’s autism, Wilson wrote sarcastically about "card suits" to underscore her disbelief in his explanations.

'I'm just gonna say let's call a spade a f***ing spade,' she wrote. 'Especially if there were two spades done in succession based on the reaction of the first spade.

'I don't know why y'all are reacting with such vigor, I'm clearly only talking about card suits. 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,' Wilson wrote, referring to the arm gesture in question. She further stated that her critics were dishonestly interpreting the gesture, adding, "Just goes to show how dishonest people/the media can be.”

She concluded by claiming the controversy was an example of "plausible deniability," alluding to the ease of manipulating public perception.

The controversy began when Musk’s arm gesture during the inauguration was compared to a Nazi salute, sparking a viral debate. Musk quickly denied the allegations, insisting that his gesture was not related to Nazism. He mocked critics by sharing images of other politicians, including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, making similar arm movements. The Anti-Defamation League also defended Musk, stating that the gesture was an "awkward moment of enthusiasm" rather than a Nazi tribute.

Despite the backlash, Musk took to his social media platform, X, to defend himself, calling the accusations "tired" and accusing his critics of using "dirty tricks" against him.

Musk and Wilson’s strained relationship has been publicly noted, with Musk previously referring to his daughter as a "communist" and criticizing her views on wealth. Wilson, who legally changed her name and gender in 2022, has distanced herself from her father’s ideologies.

This incident adds to ongoing public tensions between Musk and Wilson, who remains an outspoken critic of her father on Meta’s Threads platform, where she boasts over 100,000 followers.