The tech billionaire’s comments online have caused Germany’s government to claim he was ‘interfering’ in the country’s upcoming elections – but it’s unclear yet if his efforts would have a substantial impact on the vote’s outcome.
South African-born tech billionaire Elon Musk caused a stir in the German political establishment shortly before Christmas when he boldly claimed “only the AfD can save Germany” — right at the start of a tense election campaign to select the country’s new government.
Despite rebukes from German politicians — some of whom compared Musk to Russian President Vladimir Putin — the owner of X, Tesla and SpaceX doubled down on his comments and published an op-ed supporting the party in the country’s Welt am Sontag newspaper.
Several weeks later, he hosted a live discussion on X with the far-right AfD’s candidate for chancellor, Alice Weidel.
The AfD, or Alternative for Germany, is officially classified as a suspected extremist organisation in Germany. Other parties have traditionally shunned it due to their member’s extreme views and association with neo-Nazi organisations.
