The German government accused American billionaire Elon Musk on Monday of trying to influence its February election with articles supporting the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, although it suggested they amounted to “nonsense”.
Musk, who will serve Donald Trump’s new administration as a foreign adviser, endorsed the AfD as Germany’s last hope in a guest article for the Welt am Sonntag newspaper that prompted the comments editor to resign in sign of protest.
“It is indeed the case that Elon Musk is trying to influence the federal election” with X posts and the opinion piece, a German government spokesman said.
Musk is free to express his opinion, the spokesman said, adding: “After all, freedom of thought covers even the biggest follies.”
The German government is accusing Elon Musk of trying to influence their upcoming election after he expressed support for the far-right AfD party in an op-ed. Musk’s option was published in the Welt am Sonntag newspaper over the weekend and was met with criticism from politicians and the resignation of the paper’s opinion editor.
Musk, the world’s richest person, has defended his right to influence German politics because of his “significant investment” and praised the AfD’s approach to market regulation, taxation and deregulation.
His intervention comes as Germans prepare to vote in parliamentary elections on February 23, following the fall of the coalition government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Musk also called for Scholz’s resignation after a car plowed into a crowd at a Christmas market on December 20, killing five people.
The main parties pledged not to work with the AfD
The AfD is currently second in opinion polls behind the main opposition conservatives and may be able to prevent a center-right or center-left majority in the election. Germany’s main parties have vowed not to work with the AfD at the national level.
The government spokesman said Musk’s endorsement of the AfD was “a recommendation to vote for a party that is being monitored (by domestic intelligence) on suspicion of being right-wing extremist and which has already been recognized as partly right-wing extremist .
German politicians have criticized Musk for his endorsement of the AfD, with Scholz’s co-leader of the Social Democrats comparing him to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Both want to influence our elections and especially support the enemies of democracy AfD. They want Germany to weaken and sink into chaos,” Lars Klingbeil told the Funke news group on Monday.
Friedrich Merz, the leader of the opposition Christian Democrats and the current favorite to succeed Scholz as chancellor, told Funke that Musk’s comments were “intrusive and pretentious.”
