Elon Musk says "Hitler was a leftist socialist" on X
Musk’s short post on X that "Hitler was a leftist socialist" drew swift pushback from historians and other users.
Elon Musk reignited controversy on his social network X by declaring that Adolf Hitler was a "leftist socialist," a claim that drew immediate pushback from historians and other users.
"Hitler was a leftist socialist," Musk wrote in a brief post on X, replying to another user who listed characteristics they associated with a leftist figure. That user’s tweet read in full: Hitler was a leftist:
- identity politics
- collectivism
- statism
- command economy
- censorship
- social engineering
- militant activism
- gun control
- rule by laws
- politicisation of academia, judiciary and civil service
— Alice Smith (@TheAliceSmith) August 7, 2026
Historical consensus and immediate reactions
The assertion conflicts with the dominant view among historians, who classify Nazism as an extreme right-wing, fascist and ultra‑nationalist movement. Reference works note that the National Socialist German Workers' Party used socialist-sounding rhetoric early on to attract working‑class support, but that Hitler purged the party’s socialist wing after coming to power.
On X some users pointed out that AI systems also contradicted Musk’s statement: one participant reported that Grok, the artificial‑intelligence assistant developed by xAI, provided answers that did not back the leftist label for Hitler.
This is not the first time Musk has made similar remarks. In early 2025, during an exchange with Alice Weidel, leader of Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD), he agreed with her assertion that Hitler was a communist — a comment that provoked widespread criticism.
Observers note that in recent years Musk has become increasingly vocal in his criticism of the U.S. Democratic Party and left‑wing movements, while also expressing support for certain right and far‑right options in the United States and Europe. His artificial intelligence company xAI has been formally integrated into SpaceX since February, after the space company acquired xAI.
Photo: press material from the event
