Berlin says Elon Musk trying to exert influence over German election

BERLIN: US billionaire Elon Musk is trying to exert influence over the German election taking place in February, a government spokesperson said on Monday.

“It is indeed the case that Elon Musk is trying to influence the federal election,” with X posts and an opinion piece he wrote backing the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) over the weekend, she said.

Musk was free to express his opinion, the spokesperson added. “After all, freedom of opinion also covers the greatest nonsense.”

The support of the AfD from Musk, who is set to serve US President-elect Donald Trump’s administration as an outside adviser, comes as Germans are set to vote on February 23 after a coalition government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz collapsed.

The commentary published in German in the Welt am Sonntag newspaper, flagship of the Axel Springer media group, expanded on a post by Musk on social media platform X last week in which he wrote “only the AfD can save Germany” and praised the party’s approach to regulation, taxes and market deregulation.

Earlier, Elon Musk lambasted German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, as a “fool” and demanding his resignation, following an attack on a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany.

A car ploughed into a crowd of shoppers in a Christmas market, killing two people and injuring several.

Elon Musk took to his own platform to blast the German leader, stating that “Scholz should resign immediately […] incompetent fool”.

Musk’s courting of far-right has already enraged several people. A day earlier, he caused outrage when the billionaire suggested that the far-right, anti-immigrant political party, Alternative for Germany (AfD) was a “saviour” of Germany.

The AfD is a far-right party that has gained huge traction recently in the mostly left-leaning European country. The anti-immigrant party is positioned second in the polls as general election loom in Germany.

A member of Angela Merkle’s former party, Christian Democratic Union (CDU), lambasted Musk, declaring the billionaire a “threat to the democracy in the Western world”.

He has also accused the South African-born as turning Twitter into a “disinformation” platform.

Musk’s recent embrace of far-right, including anti-immigration stance, has been widely condemned, with several leaders in Europe concerned about the influential billionaire’s impact on global politics.

The Western world has seen a sharp rise in extreme right-wing parties winning votes and even forming governments in recent years. This includes the Netherlands, and even United States, where Donald Trump is set to start his second term as president despite felony charges