Billionaire Elon Musk signed a pro-AfD column this Saturday in the German newspaper Die Welt.
The publication of this text, in favor of this far-right party across the Rhine, caused a stir within the daily's editorial staff.
An editor-in-chief of the newspaper has resigned.
A controversial text that creates a stir. Billionaire Elon Musk, a fervent supporter of US President-elect Donald Trump, signed a column in a column in World on Sundaythe Sunday edition of the famous conservative daily The world. The businessman defends the far-right party Alternative für Deutschlan (AfD), believing that the movement “is the last glimmer of hope“for Germany, which is according to him”on the brink of economic and cultural collapse“.
Elon Musk also touts the “controlled immigration policy“of the party, its economic objectives of”reduce taxes” or even “deregulate the market“The classification of the AfD as far right”is clearly false“, he still asserts, relying on the fact that his leader Alice Weidel “has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka“.
A newspaper manager resigns
The published article is in reality a cross-article in which the new editor-in-chief of The worldJan Philipp Burgard, contradicts Elon Musk, believing that “even a genius can make a mistake“. L’AfD “is a danger to our values and our economy“, assures the journalist, while recalling that another leader of the party, Björn Höcke, “was repeatedly convicted of using a banned Nazi slogan“. A counter-argument which did not convince Eva Marie Kogel, responsible for the editorial content of the press title. “Today, a text d’Elon Musk appeared in Welt am Sonntag. Yesterday I submitted my resignation after printing“, she indicated on the social network
Beyond this departure, this pro-AfD column by Elon Musk also sparked other indignant reactions. The Association of German Journalists (DJV) thus protested against the “election advertising” permitted by the wording of The worldat the moment the German parties are in the middle of an electoral campaign with a view to the early legislative vote scheduled for next February. “The German media must not allow itself to be manipulated as a mouthpiece for autocrats and their friends“, criticizes its leader Mika Beuster.
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This cross-post follows a controversial tweet published on December 20 by Elon Musk, in which he wrote that “only the AfD“could”save Germany“. The party is credited with an average of 19% of voting intentions in the polls. The world belongs to the Axel Springer press group, the most influential in Germany, which also includes the tabloid Bild, the country's most widely read.
