German lawmakers have lined up to criticize Elon Musk after the U.S. presidential kingmaker waded into the country’s political space weeks before a vital election.
Musk, who has been courting populist leaders including Italy’s Gerogina Meloni and Reform U.K.’s Nigel Farage, wrote an op-ed in the German publication Welt am Sonntag that the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party represented Germany’s “last spark of hope.”
“The traditional parties have failed in Germany,” Musk wrote. “The AfD, even though it is described as far-right, represents a political realism that resonates with many Germans who feel their concerns are ignored by the establishment.”
“Portraying the AfD as far-right is clearly false, considering that Alice Weidel, the party’s leader, has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka! Does that sound like Hitler to you? Come on!” Musk said in the piece.
The op-ed prompted Welt am Sonntag’s opinions editor, Eva Marie Kogel, to hand in her resignation.
“Today an article by Elon Musk appeared in Welt am Sonntag. I handed in my resignation yesterday after it went to print,” Kogel wrote on Musk’s X platform.
However, the op-ed made bigger waves in the German government, with the country’s most powerful figures using their platforms to respond to Musk’s comments.
In a New Year’s address, without naming Musk directly, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said: “What will happen in Germany will be decided by you, the citizens, not the owners of social media.”
Scholz added that “in our debates, one can sometimes get the impression that the most extreme opinions get the greatest attention.
“But it’s not those who shout loudest who will decide Germany’s future but the broad majority of sensible and respectable people,” he added.
Musk has stepped up his support of AfD amid plans for fresh elections in February. He has also leveraged an attack on the Magdeburg Christmas market to advocate for anti-immigration candidates. Musk called on Scholz to resign following the Dec. 20 attack, labeling him an “incompetent fool.”
Germany’s vice chancellor, Robert Habeck, was more overt in criticizing Musk’s comments, suggesting they weren’t coming from a place of ignorance.
“It is logical and systematic. Musk is strengthening those who are weakening Europe. A weak Europe is in the interest of those for whom regulation is an inappropriate limitation of their power,” added Habeck.
Musk’s vocal support for AfD follows similar overtures to other right-leaning parties across Europe, following success in influencing the U.S. presidential election.
The weight of that influence was felt in November when Musk’s support for Donald Trump on his platform X proved vital in elevating him to the White House. He also donated $250 million to the Trump campaign.
Musk’s support of Trump helped the world’s richest man secure a spot in Trump’s future Cabinet, overseeing the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
He has since turned his attention across the Atlantic Ocean. Reports emerged in December that Musk was preparing to donate up to £100 million to Farage’s Reform party to help it contest future elections. Musk previously said that civil war in the U.K. was “inevitable” following riots over the summer.