The German government on Monday accused U. S. billionaire Elon Musk of trying to influence elections scheduled for February with articles supporting the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, although it said they were “nonsense. “
Musk, who is expected to serve as an outside adviser to Donald Trump’s new leadership, subsidized the AfD as Germany’s last hope in an op-ed for the Welt am Sonntag newspaper that prompted the editor to resign in protest.
“It is true that Elon Musk will influence the federal elections” with pornographic messages and opinion articles, said a German government spokesperson.
Musk is flexible in his opinion, the spokesperson said, adding: “After all, freedom of opinion also covers the greatest absurdities. “
Germany accuses Elon Musk of interfering in its upcoming elections
Musk, the richest person in the world, defended his right to influence German politics thanks to his “significant investments” and praised the AfD’s work on regulation, taxes and market deregulation.
His intervention comes as Germans prepare to vote in parliamentary elections on February 23, following the collapse of the coalition government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Musk also called for Scholz’s resignation after a car crashed into a crowd at a Christmas market on Dec. 20, killing five people.
The AfD is currently in second place in opinion polls behind the main opposition conservatives, and might be able to thwart a centre-right or centre-left majority in the election. Germany’s mainstream parties have pledged not to work with the AfD at the national level.
The government spokesman said Musk’s advice to the AfD was “advice to vote for a party that is under surveillance [by national intelligence] and is suspected of being far-right and has already been identified as partly right-wing extremist. ” “.
German politicians have criticized Musk for his campaign for the AfD, with the co-leader of Scholz’s Social Democrats 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,” Lars Klingbeil told the Funke news group on Monday.
Friedrich Merz, leader of the opposition Christian Democrats and current favourite to succeed Scholz as chancellor, told Funke that Musk’s comments were “intrusive and pretentious.”
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