 "Billionaire Elon Musk. Source: Reuters.")
Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, voiced his support for Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on Friday, declaring on the platform, “Only the AfD can save Germany”. The endorsement is part of Musk’s growing alignment with European far-right parties, drawing sharp criticism from German politicians.
Musk’s post accompanied a video commentary criticizing Friedrich Merz, leader of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and a frontrunner for chancellor, for ruling out cooperation with the AfD.
AfD celebrates, other parties angered
AfD leaders quickly celebrated Musk’s backing. Alice Weidel, the AfD’s candidate for chancellor, responded on X, saying, “Yes! You are perfectly right!” She added a reference to a recent interview where she blamed former Chancellor Angela Merkel’s policies for “ruining” Germany and criticized the European Union as a “Soviet” entity.
The endorsement sparked outrage among Germany’s mainstream political leaders. Dennis Radtke, a CDU member of the European Parliament, condemned Musk’s remarks, calling them “threatening, irritating, and unacceptable” interference in Germany’s electoral process.
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More ShortsAlex Schaefer, a lawmaker from Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), called Musk’s comments “completely unacceptable” and urged Germany to stand firm against foreign meddling. “We object to interference in our election campaign,” he told Tagesspiegel.
Musk’s support for right-wing parties in Europe
The AfD, polling in second place ahead of the February 23 election, is poised to become the largest opposition party in parliament. Despite being labeled as extremist by some state-level domestic intelligence agencies, the party has surged in popularity amid growing radicalism.
Musk’s latest intervention follows his vocal support for other European right-wing populist leaders, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Nigel Farage, leader of the UK’s Reform Party. Earlier this week, Farage claimed Musk was “right behind” him and hinted at possible financial backing from the tech tycoon.
Germany heads to the polls after the collapse of Scholz’s coalition government last month in a dispute over the budget.
With inputs from agencies