
Elon’s response is much more telling than his original action. If someone accidentally does a Nazi salute, they apologize and condemn Naziism. Elon, whether accidental or not, decided to make Nazi puns, never apologized, and retweets posts by open neo-Nazi. And then other conservatives like Steve Bannon began intentionally doing the salute.
Hitler salutes have the palm down. Mamdani has his palm perpendicular to the ground and clearly waves to the crowd. Elon was doing a faster but deliberate salute with his palm down. The fact that Elon salutes the flag, a symbol of the nation, is particularly reminiscent of Nazi ideas of the nation. The salute is meant to point to a better future, so Elon is wishing a bright future for the nation in his salute. Also, many professed neo Nazis believe that the bottom one is a Nazi salute.