German Government: “Elon Musk Trying to Influence Elections with Support for AfD”
Tech magnate Elon Musk is trying to influence the German elections with his open support for the radical right-wing Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party. That is what the German Government of Olaf Scholz claims.
“He is free to express his opinion, but he is proposing to vote for a party being monitored by the German intelligence services.”
An opinion piece in the German newspaper Die Welt got the ball rolling. In it, Musk states that the AfD is “the last glimmer of hope for the country.” According to the German Government, such statements are enough to say that Musk is trying to influence the German federal elections, which will be held on February 23.
“Elon Musk is indeed trying to influence the election, with posts on X and an opinion piece,” said Christianne Hoffmann, a spokeswoman for the German Government. “He is free to express his opinion, but he is proposing to vote for a party that is being monitored by German intelligence services because they are far-right.”
In the opinion piece, Musk states that this classification is “clearly wrong.” SPD member Olaf Scholz’s current Government finds this objectionable. Hoffman lashes out, “Freedom of opinion also includes the biggest nonsense.”
According to Musk, it is perfectly logical that he speaks out about the political situation in Germany because he has made “large investments” there. He refers to the Tesla factory he built 35 kilometres from the German capital, Berlin. Suitable for a price tag of around 5.3 billion euros.
Criticism of Scholz
The support for AfD does not come out of the blue. Musk has criticized Scholz’s current Government on several occasions. For example, he called the Chancellor a “madman” when the German government coalition fell apart.
And on December 20, the same day he declared his support for AfD, he portrayed Scholz as an “incompetent fool” after the attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg. He also called on Scholz to resign.
Within Scholz’s party, criticism of Musk is very sharp. They compare the American billionaire to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Both want to influence the elections and specifically support the enemies of democracy,” says SPD co-chair Lars Klingbeil. “They want Germany to be weakened and plunged into chaos.”
Klingbeil added that Germany needs to do more to limit X’s power. “We need to be much more aggressive and limit the power of large internet platforms like X. Here is a tech billionaire trying to use his influence to influence world politics.”
Polls unchanged
With some 210 million followers on his own media platform, X, Musk’s potential influence is anything but small. Musk also openly supported Donald Trump in the American elections, which has paid off for both parties. Trump won the elections in November, and Musk has been given a position within the Republican president’s administration.
It is difficult to determine whether Musk’s statements will actually influence the elections. At the moment, the AfD is doing very well in the polls, but they were doing so even before Musk’s support. Between December 20—the day Musk openly declared his support—and today, the figures remain unchanged: 19 percent say they will vote for the AfD.
