The hyperactive Musk
Elon Musk’s interference in the politics of a foreign country is nothing new. He promised financial aid to the British nationalist Nigel Farage, supports the former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and the president of the Italian council, Giorgia Meloni. But Germany is an even more symbolic playground for him, since he opened the largest Tesla factory in Europe there.
“As someone who has made significant investments in the German industry and technology landscape, I believe I have the right to speak openly about its political orientation,” he explains in The world on Sunday. Donald Trump’s new advisor and future head of a department responsible for government efficiency, particularly praises the AfD’s desire to reduce “market overregulation” and weaken the European Union. A position which provoked a reaction from the leader of the Christian Democratic Party (CDU) Friedrich Merz for whom Elon Musk seems to have forgotten that with “the AfD, the construction of his Tesla factory in Brandenburg would never have taken place”. This mega factory has benefited from numerous exemptions granted by the very people he criticizes, namely social democrats (SPD) and Christian democrats (CDU). As for leaving the EU and the euro, advocated by the AfD, it would massively harm the national economy, according to economic representatives.
“Elon Musk is obsessed with the demographic decline of white men, to the point of flirting with eugenic ideas”
A Christmas gift for AFD
“Elon Musk is exercising an unusual form of political interference in Germany for a foreign business leader,” notes political scientist Tilman Mayer of the University of Bonn. “In my opinion, he has the right to give his opinion. The question is whether his arguments are good. However, I think he is wrong and misinformed about what the AfD wants and is. He himself is too libertarian compared to the base of this party, which displays quite strong anti-American sentiment. I’m not sure that Musk’s support will have a very obvious effect on AfD voters.” believes this political scientist. On the AfD side, on the other hand, Musk’s platform is an unexpected Christmas present, on which its head of list, Alice Weidel, surfs effortlessly, limiting herself to retweeting the American billionaire’s messages.
Berlin criticizes Musk for trying to “influence” elections
Highly criticized by the traditional parties for the publication of this column, the daily The world, believes he participates in the culture of debate. “In my opinion, it has been proven that the strategy of silencing, tabooing, ignoring, not taking into account and criticizing this party as a whole has not worked,” its editor-in-chief Philipp Burgard explained this Thursday. “The AfD is the second most important party in the polls at the national level,” he recalls, justifying his editorial choice. The AfD is in fact credited with 19% of voting intentions for the legislative elections on February 23.
