the essential
The billionaire is increasing his output on his X platform (formerly Twitter), directly attacking several European governments and openly supporting the far right and populist movements. An approach that worries leaders across the Old Continent, given the immeasurable influence of the billionaire tech magnate.
Support for the AfD in Germany, charges against the Labor Prime Minister in the United Kingdom, proximity to Giorgia Meloni in Italy… Since his involvement in Donald Trump’s campaign, Elon Musk has continued to infiltrate business policies of different countries. The tech mogul has never hidden his sympathies for European populist parties. While the influence of the richest man on the planet now seems limitless, his plebiscite from the European far right arouses indignation and concern, two weeks before the inauguration of his ally and probable future boss, Donald Trump .
Repeated attacks on the British government and the “mass rape” affair
Elon Musk has interfered in British politics by increasing attacks against the Labor Party in power since July. A few weeks ago, the possibility of a donation of one hundred million dollars (121 million euros) to “Reform UK”, the far-right party led by Nigel Farage (Brexit figure), caused a surge the conservatives. The latter fear being swallowed up by the extremes like the Republicans in the United States. The American multi-billionaire also said he was in favor of a dissolution of Parliament by King Charles III to provoke new legislative elections.
The latest splash to date, a controversy in the United Kingdom relaunched by the billionaire around an affair more than a decade old. In a series of posts on his social network X, the Tesla boss directly targeted the British Labor Prime Minister, formerly head of the “CPS”, the prosecution in England. He attacked the authorities’ handling of a vast case of rape and sexual exploitation of more than 1,500 girls and young people in the north of England over decades.
In this case which emerged in 2013, most of those responsible were men from Pakistan. However, the authorities have been accused of not having taken into account these crimes and of having passed them over in silence. Questioned about these attacks, Keir Starmer defended his record at the head of the CPS, claiming to have “reopened files” and to have “presented the first indictments against an Asian exploitation network”.
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Elon Musk also called current Secretary of State for Victim Protection Jess Phillips an “apologist for genocidal rape”. The latter recently considered that it was not necessary to carry out a national investigation into the management of several sexual exploitation scandals which shook the country, specific investigations having already taken place for several of them. Since then, she has been the subject of violent attacks on social networks. “Those who spread lies and disinformation […] are not interested in the victims. They are interested in themselves,” denounced Keir Starmer during a press conference held on Monday.
Support for the German far right
Elon Musk also interfered in the German electoral campaign, two months before the February vote, by supporting the German far-right party on his X platform. “Only the AfD can save Germany” launched the billionaire American Elon Musk.
Already on November 8, he had called Olaf Scholz “crazy”, 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 former GDR where the far right achieved historic scores, he said that the positions of the AfD did not seem “far right” to him. Elon Musk repeated it Friday evening: “Of course it’s NOT ‘far right’. Just common sense policies.”
And in the process, very shortly after the motivations for the alleged attack on a Christmas market in Germany were known, Elon Musk reposted a tweet which states that “this is the direct result of immigration massive unregulated”. The attacker was ultimately revealed to be a fervent supporter of the German far right and adhering to the ideologies of Elon Musk.
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Outcry in Europe
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 is now actively engaging in the election campaign with his X platform to give momentum to the AfD, this is an alarming signal,” Matthias Miersch told media outlet T-Online. A conservative opposition MEP, Dennis Radtke, called Musk a “threat.”
“Ten years ago, if we had been told that the owner of one of the largest social networks in the world would support a new reactionary international and intervene directly in the elections, including in Germany… who would have imagined it?” for his part launched Emmanuel Macron.
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“I find it worrying that a man with considerable access to social networks and significant economic resources would get involved so directly in the internal affairs of other countries,” Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said Monday. .
