Bannon, in CPAC speech, makes a straight-arm gesture that some denounce as a Nazi salute

OXON HILL, Md. — Stephen K. Bannon made a straight-arm gesture that some decried as a Nazi salute as he concluded a speech at a conservative gathering where President Trump is due to speak this weekend.

The longtime Trump ally and former aide said Friday the gesture was merely a “wave.” But a far-right French politician canceled his scheduled appearance at the event in response.

Bannon, who once served as Trump’s chief strategist and helped lead his 2016 presidential campaign, was onstage at the Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington on Thursday evening when he extended his right arm in the air, his palm flat, after imploring the crowd to “Fight! Fight! Fight!” — a reference to what Trump shouted to supporters after an assailant’s bullet grazed his ear during a campaign speech last summer in Pennsylvania.

The gesture drew immediate backlash due to its similarity with the right-arm salute linked in history to Adolf Hitler, the Nazis and their allies.

“Steve Bannon’s long and disturbing history of stoking antisemitism and hate, threatening violence, and empowering extremists is well known and well documented by ADL and others,” the Anti-Defamation League, an antisemitism and human rights watchdog, wrote on X in response. “We are not surprised, but are concerned about the normalization of this behavior.”

Meanwhile, French far-right National Rally President Jordan Bardella said he had canceled his scheduled speech at CPAC on Friday in reaction to what he described as “a gesture referring to Nazi ideology.”

“While I was not present in the room, one of the speakers allowed himself, out of provocation, a gesture referring to Nazi ideology. As a consequence, I made the immediate decision to cancel my speech,” Bardella said in a written statement.

Bannon, speaking to a French journalist from Le Point newsmagazine Friday, said the gesture was not a Nazi salute but was “a wave like I did all the time.”

“I do it at the end of all of my speeches to thank the crowd,” Bannon said.

Bannon, whose “War Room” podcast is extremely popular on the right, denounced Bardella for his decision to cancel, calling him “unworthy to lead France.”

“He’s a boy, not a man,” Bannon said, according to video posted by correspondent Claire Meynial.

Online, some far-right users suggested Bannon had made the gesture purposely to “trigger” liberals and the media, while others distanced themselves. Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist, Holocaust denier and Trump ally who uses his platform to share his antisemitic views, said in a livestream that Bannon’s salute was “getting a little uncomfortable even for me.”

Bannon’s gesture came at the end of a speech in which he repeated lies about the 2020 election, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden, and continued to press for Trump to serve a third term, something the Constitution explicitly bars.

“The future of America is MAGA. And the future of MAGA is Donald J. Trump,” he said. “We want Trump in ’28!”

Bannon is not the only person in Trump’s orbit to make a gesture that appeared to many to be a Nazi salute. Trump advisor Elon Musk drew criticism last month after he slapped his hand on his chest and then extended his arm out in a speech at Capital One Arena celebrating Trump’s inauguration.

Many historians and European politicians denounced it as explicitly referring to Nazi ideology, but extremist monitors and experts said it was unclear what Musk was trying to convey to the crowd. Musk “made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute,” the ADL concluded.

Musk also insisted he was making an innocent gesture to his audience. “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks,” he posted on X several hours after he left the stage. “The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.”

CPAC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Bannon’s gesture.

Associated Press writer Gomez Licon reported from Oxford Hill, Colvin from New York. AP writers Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Ali Swenson in New York contributed to this report.