Elon Musk isn’t just dabbling in German politics. He is trying to break the political blockade that has kept the country’s most powerful far-right party out of power, even as it enjoys support from voters.
Musk is scheduled to host a live interview on Thursday with Alice Weidel, the chancellor candidate for Alternative for Germany, known as the AfD, in Germany’s snap elections scheduled for February 23. The social media platform “on X” owned by Mr Musk has sparked warnings and threats of legal repercussions among Germany’s political class.
That’s largely because Mr. Musk provides the AfD with a level of visibility and legitimacy long denied in German public life.
The AfD has risen to second place in German national opinion polls, with around a fifth of voters supporting it. It has gained support with an unwavering anti-establishment campaign condemning the millions of migrants and refugees who have entered the country from the Middle East and Ukraine over the past decade.
Parties with a similar immigration message have emerged in federal government in other parts of Europe, including Italy’s Brothers and Austria’s Freedom Party. But in Germany, still haunted by its Nazi past, no other political party collaborates with the AfD. the candidate Complain about much less airtime than any other candidate on a national political talk show.
At the same time, the AfD has moved into words and actions that German leaders consider extreme. The party has been forced to expel members for using racist and anti-Semitic language. One of its leaders has been repeatedly punished by German courts for repeating banned Nazi slogans.
The party is under surveillance by domestic intelligence agencies. Three of the state chapters and the entire youth wing have been designated as right-wing extremists, a designation made after extensive observation by intelligence agencies. According to some information, more than 100 employees working for AfD parliamentarians have also been identified as right-wing extremists. Survey by public broadcaster.
In a speech in 2016Former Chancellor Angela Merkel called on all German political parties to unite against the AfD as it gains momentum ahead of the federal election. it was, she saidThis is not just an issue for her own Conservative party, but “for all of us gathered in this house”.
Anti-AfD groups have not split since then. Not after the party rose in the polls and won key state elections last year, nor after the party tried to put a more moderate face forward as its candidate for prime minister: former investment banker. At home, Ms. Weidel lives with a Sri Lankan partner – a sex partner living in Switzerland and their children.
Enter Mr. Musk, who controls a powerful media platform increasingly populated by right-wing influencers. He became a close ally of President-elect Donald J. Trump and began promoting far-right candidates and parties across Europe in online posts.
In December, Musk reposted a video of Naomi Seibt, a 24-year-old German conservative social media star with a huge following on X and YouTube, through her. Harsh criticism of climate scientists and efforts to prevent global warming. He is also close to the AfD and is believed to have helped encourage Musk to support the party.
“Only the AfD can save Germany,” Musk wrote in a post that included a video of himself.
Weidel welcomed the support. “You’re totally right, @elonmusk!” she wrote in reply.
Musk later penned an op-ed for German newspaper Die Welt detailing his support for the party, calling it Germany’s “last spark of hope”. In doing so, he positioned the AfD not as an extreme but as a rational alternative to a calcified political system.
“Painting the AfD as far-right is clearly wrong considering its leader Alice Weidell has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka! Does that sound like Hitler? Come on!” he wrote.
On Thursday night in Germany, Mr. Musk plans to go further, hosting Mr. Weidell in an X “Space” conversation similar to the one he had with Mr. Trump last summer.
Mr. Musk and many of his X users are attracted to European right-wing parties like the AfD. But the party’s position differs in many ways from Musk’s personal and business views and from his role as an adviser to Trump.
AfD is famous for fighting back He also opposed the construction of a German factory by Tesla, the electric car company run by Musk. In an interview with the American Conservative this week, Mr. Weidell praised Mr. Trump but suggested that Germans have become “slaves” to the United States over the past 30 years, including by supporting American wars.
“We Germans have been living in this situation for a long time, and it’s definitely an advantage for the United States,” she said.
The European Commission has decided against Musk’s involvement in European politics, given his enormous power through his ownership of Company X and his close, however unlasting, relationship with the next US president. announced that it would investigate interventions.
A joint statement was made by Europe’s center-left parties, including the German Social Democratic Party. statement It called on Brussels to use “all available legal means” to protect democracy from misinformation on social media and foreign interference.
Gerard Arau, the outspoken former French ambassador to the United States, questions whether Europe can remain united despite Musk’s attacks on incumbent leaders.
“Europeans, whose relationship with the United States is civilized and existential, are numbed by the increasingly inflammatory rhetoric of Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk,” Araud said. I wrote to X. “They want this to be just words.”
German leaders have repeatedly criticized or tried to ignore Musk. Chancellor Olaf Scholz rejected the billionaire’s efforts to sway German voters in an interview this week. “I don’t think I’m going to do Mr. Musk any favors,” he said. He added in English that the rule when dealing with social media posts is “don’t feed the trolls.”
German voters also appear unfazed, at least for now. three quarters of respondents In a poll conducted by a German broadcaster, respondents said it was inappropriate for Musk to comment on German politics.
However, the same poll showed that a majority of respondents believed Mr. Musk’s efforts would help the AfD in the election.
Steven Erlanger and Christopher F. Schuetze Contributed to the report.
