German Chancellor Olaf Scholz dismissed Elon Musk’s personal attacks as unimportant, but expressed concern about the billionaire’s support for Germany’s far-right AfD party.
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says he remains “cool” in the face of Elon Musk’s critical personal comments. He was nevertheless concerned that the American billionaire was trying to get involved in a general election by supporting the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Mr Scholz reacted after the boss of X, a close ally of US President-elect Donald Trump, called the chancellor a“imbecile” after the collapse of his coalition government last November. Elon Musk later sided with the AfD in an opinion piece he wrote for a major German newspaper.
For the leader of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD), Musk’s comments do not bring anything new. It would only be a matter of criticisms made by “rich media entrepreneurswho do not appreciate social democratic politics and do not hold back from expressing their opinions.”
“You have to keep your cool”insisted Olaf Scholz to the magazine Stern.
“I find it much more worrying than such insults that Musk supports a party like the AfD, which is a far-right party, which preaches rapprochement with Putin’s Russia and which wants to weaken transatlantic relations,” declared M. Scholz.
The AfD is monitored by Germany’s domestic intelligence services, suspected of being far-right, and has already been recognized as such in some German states.
“Hands off German democracy!”
Germany will hold snap parliamentary elections on February 23, after the government coalition collapsed in November due to a dispute with the Liberals over how to revitalize the country’s stagnant economy.
-Vice Chancellor and Minister of Economy Robert Habeck (environmentalist) also warned Musk against interfering in German politics.
“Hands off our democracy, Mr. Musk!” said Mr. Habeck in an interview with the magazine The mirror.
“The combination of enormous wealth, control of information and networks, use of artificial intelligence and willingness to ignore the rules is a frontal attack on our democracy“declared Mr. Habeck, Green Party candidate for chancellor.
Musk persists and signs
Elon Musk recently caused an uproar by supporting the AfD in an opinion piece published in the World on Sundayleading to the resignation of the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Eva Marie Kogel, in protest.
“The AfD is the last spark of hope for this country“wrote Mr. Musk in his comment translated into French.
The CEO of Tesla Motors also wrote that his investment in Germany gave him the right to comment on the situation in the country. He also indicated that he would soon participate in a debate with the AfD.
This party records good results in voting intentions, but its candidate for the top post, Alice Weidel, has no realistic chance of becoming chancellor, because the other parties refuse to collaborate with the far-right party.
