Elon Musk has backed Germany’s right-wing Alternative for Germany party (AfD) in a guest opinion piece the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
The article, published online, prompted the commentary’s editor to resign in protest.
In the article, Musk expanded on his post on his social media platform X last week claiming that “only the AfD can save Germany”.
“The description of the AfD as a right-wing extremist is obviously false, given that Alice Weidel, the party’s leader, has a same-sex spouse from Sri Lanka!
“Does Hitler look like you? Please!”
He added: “Germany’s election is the last spark of hope for this country. “
Germany’s national intelligence firm has classified the AFD in the National as a suspected extremism case since 2021.
Shortly after the article was published online, opinion section editor-in-chief Eva Marie Kogel wrote on X that she had submitted her resignation, with a link to the comment.
However, the newspaper’s appointed editors-in-chief Jan Philipp Burgard and ULF Poschardt, who will take over as the newspaper’s editor on Jan. 1, Reuters: “Democracy and journalism thrive on freedom of expression.
“It’s about addressing polarizing positions and classifying them journalistically. “
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Following Musk’s comment, the newspaper published a reaction from Burgard.
“Musk’s diagnosis is correct, but its curative approach, which AFD can save Germany, is fatally false,” he wrote.
Burgard referred to the AFD’s preference for abandoning the European Union and relations with Russia and China.
It occurs when the Germans will vote on February 23 after the collapse of a coalition led by Foreign Minister Olaf Scholz.
The AFD is in position at the moment in the opinion polls and would possibly thwart a majority of the right or center left.