Elon Musk is backing Germany's far-right party ahead of the upcoming election


A technology entrepreneur Elon Musk made noise from behind Germany's far-right party in a major newspaper ahead of crucial Western European parliamentary elections, leading to the paper's opinion editor resigning in protest.

Germany is due to vote in a snap election on February 23 after Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-party governing coalition collapsed last month amid a dispute over how to revive the country's stagnant economy.

Musk's guest opinion piece for Welt am Sonntag, a sister publication of Axel Springer Group-owned POLITICO, published in German over the weekend was the second time this month he has endorsed the Alternative for Germany, or AfD.

“Alternative for Germany (AfD) is the last spark of hope for this country,” Musk wrote in his translated commentary.

He went on to say that the far-right party “can lead the country to a future where economic prosperity, cultural integrity and technological innovation are not just wishes, but reality.”

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy visit Capitol Hill
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the newly announced co-chairman of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), arrived on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on December 05, 2024.

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images


The executive director of Tesla Motors also wrote that his investment in Germany gave him the right to comment on the state of the country.

The AfD is running a strong election, but its top candidate, Alice Weidel, has no realistic chance of becoming chancellor because other parties refuse to work with the far-right party.

The tech billionaire challenged the party's public image in his opinion.

“The portrayal of the AfD as right-wing is patently false, given that the party's leader, Alice Weidel, has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka. Does that sound like Hitler to you?”

Musk's comment sparked a debate over the limits of free speech in the German media, with the paper's own opinion editor announcing his resignation, particularly on Musk's social media platform, X.

“I have always enjoyed leading the opinion section of WELT and WAMS. Today, Elon Musk's article appeared. I submitted my resignation yesterday when it was published,” wrote Eva Marie Kogel.

A critical article by the future editor-in-chief of the Welt group, Jan-Philippe Burgard, accompanied Musk's opinion.

“Musk's diagnosis is correct, but his therapeutic approach that only the AfD can save Germany is fatally wrong,” wrote Burghardt.

In response to a request for comment from the German press agency dpa, current Welt group editor-in-chief Ulf Poshardt and Burghardt, who is due to take over on January 1, said in a joint statement: The discussion around Musk's article was “very insightful. Democracy and journalism thrive on free speech.”

“This will continue to determine the compass of the 'world' in the future, we will even more decisively develop 'Die Welt' as a forum for such debates,” they wrote to dpa.

Musk walked hard In the 2024 US presidential election, millions invested in electing President-elect Donald Trump. Trump rewarded him after the election naming Musk to lead the startup Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE with Vivek Ramaswamy.

Musk and Ramaswamy were mixed Over the weekend, Musk's social media platform for H-1B visas, which apply to high-skilled workers, defended the use of the policy amid backlash from Laura Loomer and other Trump supporters. , who support tough immigration policies.

in the interview given to New York PostTrump said he's “always liked the visas,” even though he tried to change the program in his first term.

“I have a lot of H-1B visas on my property. I've used it many times. It's a great program,” Trump told the newspaper.



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