The German government has cautioned the United States billionaire Elon Musk against attempting to influence the upcoming 2025 Federal election.
This warning came after Musk endorsed the AfD in a guest opinion piece for the Welt am Sonntag newspaper stating “the AfD Germany’s “last hope” a statement that has triggered a political crisis across the nation.
In the article, written in German, Musk defended the AfD, saying, “The portrayal of the AfD as right-wing extremist is clearly false, considering that Alice Weidel, the party’s leader, has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka! Does that sound like Hitler to you? Please!”
Responding to the article on Monday, the government spokesperson Christiane Hoffmann called Musk’s endorsement “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.”
While acknowledging the freedom of speech, she added, “It is indeed the case that Elon Musk is trying to influence the federal election. After all, freedom of opinion also covers the greatest nonsense ”.
Similarly, German politicians have also condemned Musk for his endorsement, with the co-leader of Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) comparing him to Russian President Vladimir Putin.”Both want to influence our elections and specifically support the AfD’s enemies of democracy. They want Germany to be weakened and plunged into chaos,”
Meanwhile, Musk, who is set to serve Donald Trump’s new administration as an outside adviser has defended his right to weigh in on German politics because of his “significant investments”, and has praised the AfD’s approach to regulation, taxes and market deregulation.
His intervention has come as Germans prepare to vote in a parliamentary election on Feb. 23 after the collapse of the coalition government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Musk also called for Scholz’s resignation after a car rammed into a crowd at a Christmas market on Dec. 20, killing five people.
