Recently, Musk caused surprise with his call for Germans to vote for the far-right Alternative for Germany party. The tech billionaire later took aim at Federal President Steinmeier.
The hot phase of the election campaign for the Bundestag elections on February 23 has begun in Germany. In it, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) can count on a prominent supporter: Elon Musk. An ally of US President-elect Donald Trump has been directly speaking out in support of the AfD for several days now. The 53-year-old American billionaire is directly involved in the election campaign, provoking and not even shying away from attacks on Germany's highest democratic institutions: first the Chancellor, now the President of the Federal Republic of Germany.
President Steinmeier sees a threat to democracy
On his social network X, Musk called German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier an “anti-democratic tyrant.” “Steinmeier is an anti-democratic tyrant! He should be ashamed,” Musk wrote on December 31 in response to a post by German far-right activist Naomi Seibt, who criticized Steinmeier after he spoke out against outside influence on the upcoming elections.
In a speech on the dissolution of the Bundestag on December 27, Steinmeier warned against manipulating the elections in Germany. “External influence is a danger to democracy – whether covert, as was the case recently in the elections in Romania, or open and blatant, as is currently being practiced particularly intensively on the X platform,” the German president stressed. After the collapse of the ruling coalition in early November, Musk already verbally attacked German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in X – in German he wrote “Olaf is a fool”.
In a guest commentary in the Welt am Sonntag newspaper at the end of December, the American billionaire directly called on people to vote for the AfD. The Alternative for Germany can save Germany from becoming a shadow of its former self, Musk wrote, adding: “Germany has become too comfortable with mediocrity – it's time for bold change, and the AfD is the only party that is opening this path.”
In the commentary, Musk argued that the AfD is “the last spark of hope for a country” teetering on the brink of “economic and cultural collapse,” and that only the AfD can revive the German economy and prevent the loss of identity through “controlled immigration policies.” “To those who condemn the AfD as extremist, I say: don't be put off by the label attached to it,” Musk concluded, referring to AfD co-chair Alice Weidel, who has a partner from Sri Lanka. “That sounds like Hitler to you? Leave it alone!”
Musk and Weidel are already negotiating
Musk's support for the AfD election campaign may now take on even more concrete features. Indeed, according to Weidel's press secretary, there are plans for a meeting between her and Musk in the format of a talk show. “We are already discussing X-Space between them,” spokesman Daniel Tapp said in an interview with Spiegel magazine and the German agency dpa. X-Space is a live broadcast of conversations on Musk's X-platform.
Regarding the attacks on Steinmeier, the president's office reacted extremely restrainedly to a request from the German media. They said they had taken note of the latest comment, but were not commenting on it. The German government acted in the same way, apparently not wanting to give the American even more space in the election campaign.
A call for legal instruments against fakes
Against this backdrop, the ruling Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) reacted quite clearly. “This is unacceptable,” wrote SPD leader Lars Klingbeil on Instagram. Over and over again, Musk “is trying to use his influence to influence the course of world politics.” The European Commission should oppose this, Klingbeil said.
Klingbeil: “We need legal tools against fake news, in particular to limit the power of individuals.” Referring to Musk's guest commentary, Klingbeil had previously accused him of wanting to “plunge Germany into chaos.” “Elon Musk is no different from Vladimir Putin. Both want to influence our elections and are purposefully supporting the enemies of democracy from the AfD.”
The leader of the SPD parliamentary group, Rolf Mützenich, in a comment to Der Spiegel demanded clarification as to “whether the repeated expressions of disrespect, slander and interference in the election campaign were also made on behalf of the new US government.” Mützenich accused Musk of crossing the “border between friendly states”.
In an interview with Reuters, the co-chair of the SPD, Saskia Eske, spoke of “vile attacks” on the chancellor and the president. “This is a shameful violation of boundaries and a demonstration of his disrespect for our democracy. Elon Musk discredits himself with every new statement,” she told Reuters.
The Journalists' Association warns editorial offices against instrumentalization
Friedrich Merz, the candidate for chancellor of the conservative Christian Democratic Union, criticized Musk's statements to the Funke media group newspapers as “aggressive” and arrogant: “I cannot recall a similar case of interference in the election campaign of a friendly country in the history of Western democracies,” Merz said. German Economy Minister Robert Gabeke of the Greens said Musk's attacks were “logical and systematic” and aimed at weakening EU.
Elon Musk's comments in the Welt am Sonntag newspaper also raised concerns among the German Journalists' Association (DJV). Its chairman, Mika Beuster, warned all editorial offices not to allow themselves to be used as a tool in the parliamentary election campaign and to be careful with guest commentary. “The German media must not allow themselves to be used as mouthpieces for autocrats and their friends.”
The strategy behind Elon Musk's statements
The richest man in the world is probably pursuing his own economic interests by resorting to such actions. In his guest post, Musk praised the AfD for their plans to “reduce excessive government regulation, lower taxes, and deregulate the market.” Among the beneficiaries of these initiatives could be his Tesla plant in Brandenburg, the American automaker's first electric car factory in Europe.
However, Musk, with his 200 million followers worldwide, also has a global political agenda aimed at promoting right-wing forces. He is said to have pledged donations totaling €95 million to British right-wing populist Nigel Farage to support his party.
In addition, Musk maintains close ties to Italian Prime Minister Giorgi Maloni and her far-right Brothers of Italy party. Commenting on the court's ban on the Italian government's plans to settle migrants in Albania, he wrote on social media X: “These judges must go.”