Elon Musk Cracks Nazi Jokes While Talking About Hand Gesture Backlash

Elon Musk ain't apologizing for his controversial hand motion after Donald Trump was inaugurated ... instead, he's doubling down with a series of Nazi jokes that almost certainly won't tone down the criticism of the mogul.

The Trump ally and tech entrepreneur stopped by "The Joe Rogan Experience" for an episode published Friday ... and, during the chat he opened up about liberals and others claiming he was giving a Nazi salute at Trump's inauguration in January.

Remember, Musk drew ugly comparisons when he pointed his right hand in the air -- much like a Heil Hitler salute ... though he claims he was just saying his heart goes out to the audience. Now, he says he did "not see" the backlash coming.

He runs the words "not" and "see" together -- making it sound like "Nazi" -- before flashing a smile at the host ... who busts up laughing at the wordplay.

In case anyone thought it was just an accident, EM doubles down ... adding people will just "Goebbel" anything up -- a second Nazi reference, this time to the WWII Nazi Germany propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels -- and a repeat of the same joke he tweeted the week of the inauguration in the wake of fresh criticism.

Elon then gets serious ... saying he found the whole backlash unbelievable -- especially since he says he meant the gesture, which he maintains was not a Nazi salute, in a positive, loving way.

Obviously, Musk has been in the news a ton recently ... working closely with President Donald Trump to slash government spending -- mainly by closing departments they deem unnecessary.