Unrest in Germany after Elon Musk's strong support for the far right

“Only the AfD can save Germany”: American billionaire Elon Musk, close to Donald Trump, de facto interfered in the electoral campaign in Germany by supporting this far-right party on his X platform two months away of the February election.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz did not hide his discomfort. Freedom of expression also applies to billionaireshe conceded during a press conference with his Estonian counterpart.

However, freedom of speech also means that one can say things that are not fair and are not good political adviceadded the 66-year-old leader, candidate for re-election.

This is not the first time that the owner of the X platform has commented on German politics. The embarrassment is commensurate with the growing influence that the multibillionaire seems to have over the future Trump presidency.

On November 8, he called Olaf Scholz a fou in the wake of the breakup of the government coalition in Germany on November 6, which will lead to early elections on February 23.

Last summer, ahead of the regional elections in the formerRDA, where the far right achieved historic scores, he said that the positions of the AfD did not seem to him far-right. Elon Musk repeated it Friday evening: Of course this is NOT “far right”, just common sense politics.

And in the process, very shortly after the alleged attack on a Christmas market in Germany became known, Elon Musk reposted a tweet which claims that this is the direct result of unregulated mass immigration.

The general secretary of Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party (SPD) has warned against any external interference in the German countryside.

If billionaire Elon Musk now actively engages in the election campaign with his X platform to give momentum to the AfD, this is an alarming signalMatthias Miersch told t-online media, adding in English Stay out, Elon (stay out of it, Elon).

A conservative opposition MEP, Dennis Radtke, called Musk a menace. Trump, Farage and now the AfD. Added to this is Putin's interferencehe said on X.

Proximity to the European far right

The Alternative for Germany, a far-right group hostile to migrants, anti-system and pro-Russian, was jubilant.

In a video on X, posing in front of a Christmas tree, the leader of this formation, Alice Weidel, directly thanked Musk in English and wished him and Donald Trump the best for the next term.

The AfD is credited with around 19% of voting intentions in the polls for the February election. The conservative CDU/CSU are in the lead with around 32%. The German leader's SPD is around 15%.

All parties rule out government cooperation with the AfD.

Elon Musk, also boss of the electric car manufacturer Tesla which has set up a large factory in the south of Berlin, has not hidden his sympathies for European populist parties.

He is considered close to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, president of the Brothers of Italy party.

The richest man on the planet, who is to occupy official functions in the next Republican administration of President-elect Donald Trump, has also interfered in British politics by increasing attacks against the ruling Labor Party.

Potential donation to an English far-right party

A few weeks ago, the possibility of a donation of 100 million US dollars (121 million euros) to Reform UK, the far-right party of Nigel Farage, made the conservatives jump, who fear swallowed by the extremes like the Republicans in the United States.

During a routine press conference on Friday, a spokesperson for Olaf Scholz did not want to comment on a possible action by Berlin with the European Commission to ask it to investigate the behavior of Mr. Musk.

Christiane Hoffmann only made general reference to the EU Digital Services Act, which sets rules on how online platforms must behave during election campaigns. In the event of an infringement, it is the European Commission which must act, she said.

She also ruled out that the chancellor would withdraw in reaction to the X platform. It is important that we are represented as democratic forces, as a federal government, on these platforms which touch many people and where debates are shapedshe said.