 "'Woke' bashing & anti-immigration rhetoric, Musk's chat with AfD's Alice Weidel left many nervous")
In a one-hour-long conversation, Tesla CEO Elon Musk pushed his anti-immigration rhetoric and heaped praises for Alternative für Deutschland Party leader Alice Weidel. During a live talk on his social media platform X, formally known as Twitter, Musk reiterated his claims that “only the AfD can save Germany”.
The virtual encounter between the two took place on Thursday amid growing criticism over the billionaire’s vocal support of far-right parties in Europe. Musk has been also facing accusations that he is trying to meddle in the upcoming German election which is scheduled to take place on February 23. The far-right German party currently stands at the second position in the nationwide polls with 21.5 per cent. The party is only behind the conservative CDU/CSU.
Interestingly, Musk mispronounced the party leader’s name as “Weedel” throughout the encounter. The 75-minute-long conversation covered almost all of the party’s policy agency, including energy policy and education along with their joint wish to slash German bureaucracy and prevent illegal immigration.
Musk & Weidel took jabs at the left
Throughout the whole conversation, one thing that remained consistent was the fact that both Musk and Weidel took swipes at “woke” views. They also agreed on the need to end the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, with Musk claiming that “President Trump is going to solve that conflict very quickly.”
When asked as to “what measures” will be used to end the war, Musk appeared slightly flustered. “To be clear, this is up to President Trump. He is the commander in chief … I don’t want to speak for him … but it does require strong leadership in the States to get it done.”
More than 100,000 accounts were listening to the audio-only chat at any given time and, in all, more than 11 million accounts viewed the X post featuring the whole discussion. Musk has been frequently commenting on German politics since last month, when he endorsed the AfD. Before the interview took place, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz went on to describe the Tesla CEO as a “troll”.
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More ShortsMusk receives backlash from European leaders
The conversation garnered backlash from several European leaders. Germany’s Party of European Socialists protested against Musk’s plans in a statement and asked the European Union to “use all the legal means available to protect democracy against misinformation and foreign interference on social media.”
It is pertinent to note that X is already under investigation for potential violation of the European Union’s Digital Service Act. Meanwhile, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Wednesday that the “ultra-right” was being led “by the richest man on the planet” — referencing the Tesla and SpaceX CEO without naming him directly.
He alleged that the movement “incites hatred and openly supports the heirs of Nazism in Germany.” One of the reasons why Germany is crucial for Musk is the fact that Tesla has a major factory outside Berlin, and the company has battled local opposition as it tries to expand its footprint.
With inputs from agencies.
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