Germany accuses billionaire Elon Musk of interfering in general election

Accordingly, the German side said that billionaire Musk used statements and articles supporting the far-right party AfD, although the country's government considered these articles meaningless.

Billionaire Musk has recently made several statements in support of the AfD. The content of the above statement was published in Die Welt – one of Germany’s leading newspapers. Eva Marie Kogel, editor in charge of Die Welt’s commentary section, resigned after the newspaper decided to publish billionaire Elon Musk’s article.

In the article, billionaire Elon Musk called the AfD party "Germany's last hope" and criticized Germany's traditional parties for leading to "economic recession, social unrest and loss of national identity".

“Despite being labelled far-right, the AfD represents political realism, which many Germans feel is ignored by the mainstream political establishment,” he added, adding that describing the AfD as far-right was “completely wrong.”

"The reality is that Mr. Elon Musk is trying to influence the federal election" through his posts on social network X and other comments, a German government spokesman said.

The official said that billionaire Musk has the right to freely express his views, but also added: "After all, freedom of speech also includes the most meaningless things."

Many believe the billionaire made the moves due to his "significant investments" and his desire to praise the AfD's approach to regulation, taxation and market deregulation.

Mr. Musk's statements come at a sensitive time as Germans prepare to hold general elections on February 23, 2024, following the collapse of the coalition government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Mr Musk also called on Scholz to resign after a car ploughed into a crowd at a Christmas market on December 20, killing five people.

The AfD is currently second in opinion polls behind the main opposition conservatives and is likely to prevent a centre-right or centre-left majority in the election. Germany's mainstream parties have pledged not to cooperate with the AfD at the national level.

A government spokesman said billionaire Musk's support for the AfD amounted to recommending a vote for a party that is under domestic intelligence scrutiny for its suspected far-right nature and has been recognised as being somewhat far-right.

German politicians have harshly criticized Musk for his support of the AfD. On December 30, Lars Klingbeil, co-leader of Chancellor Scholz's Social Democratic Party (SPD), said Musk wanted to influence the election and wanted Germany to weaken and fall into chaos.

Founded in 2013, the far-right AfD party has attracted attention with its focus on tightening asylum laws and fighting organized crime and Islamic extremism.

Support for the party has increased significantly, especially after it won regional elections in Thuringia in September.

The 2025 election comes after Germany's three-party ruling coalition collapsed over budget disputes, giving the AfD a chance to gain influence.