Elon Musk’s Daughter Vivian Weighs in on His Evocative Hand Gesture
Elon Musk’s estranged daughter had a fiery response Tuesday to her dad’s eyebrow-raising gesture the afternoon before.
Vivian Wilson, who changed her name to disassociate from Musk, did not mention the billionaire by name but made clear who she was referring to in an explicit string of posts.
“I’m just gonna say let’s call a spade a f---ing spade,” she said. “Especially if there were two spades done in succession based on the reaction of the first spade.”
Musk went instantly viral Monday after he quickly shot up his hand at an angle that resembled a Nazi or Roman salute—both of which have fascist roots—in the middle of a speech in front of Donald Trump supporters at an inauguration day rally.

MAGA has defended the gesture as being an accidental motion made by an awkward and excited man—a conclusion the Anti-Defamation League also reached. Musk has leaned into this explanation himself, criticizing those who claim otherwise.
Wilson is clearly not buying that explanation, however. She noted that Musk did not just swing his arm up once—as he told a crowd his heart goes out to them—but also did so a second time immediately after to those sitting behind him.
She appeared to mock conservatives who have written of the gesture as a gaffe that is the result of Musk’s autism.
“I don’t know why y’all are reacting with such vigor, I’m clearly only talking about card suits,” she later posted. “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. Y’know... people assuming that I’m not just talking about card suits just goes to show how dishonest people/the media can be.”
In a third post, she added: “For those who can read between the lines, do y’all understand how f---ing easy this is to do? Plausible deniability honey. Just saying.”
Wilson notably posted her screed to Threads—the Meta competitor to her dad’s social media company.
Musk has addressed the controversy by saying his critics need “better dirty tricks” and that comparing political opponents to Adolf Hitler is “sooo tired.”
Wilson, 20, has distanced herself from Musk since she became an adult. Her mom is Musk’s ex-wife, Justine Musk, who the world’s richest man shares six children with.
Wilson is transgender and has spoken out against Musk on a number of occasions, including to accuse him of berating her as a child for being queer. She is an active poster on Threads, where she has over 100,000 followers.
Musk, a father of 12 kids in total, did not immediately address Wilson’s criticisms in his daily barrage of posts to X.