Elon Musk’s endorsement of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party ahead of the country’s general election has drawn a response from the German government. On Monday, officials sought to downplay the tech entrepreneur’s controversial support.
Musk stirred backlash over the weekend by supporting the AfD in a guest opinion piece published in Welt am Sonntag. The endorsement prompted the resignation of the paper’s opinion editor, Eva Marie Kogel, who announced her departure in protest on Musk’s social media platform, X.
“Freedom of expression also includes the greatest nonsense,” government spokesperson Christiane Hoffmann said, declining to comment further on Musk’s statements. However, she acknowledged that “it is indeed the case that Elon Musk is attempting to influence the federal election through his remarks.”
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Hoffmann also noted that the AfD is under surveillance by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency on suspicion of being a right-wing extremist group and has already been classified as such in some German states.
The country is gearing up for an early election on Feb. 23 after the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party governing coalition last month amid disputes over revitalizing the struggling economy.
Musk’s opinion piece, written in German, marks his second public endorsement of the AfD this month. “The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is the last spark of hope for this country,” Musk wrote, praising the party’s potential to restore “economic prosperity, cultural integrity, and technological innovation.”
Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors and a major investor in Germany, defended his commentary, asserting that his investments gave him a right to weigh in on the country’s political and economic future.
His article also attempted to counter the AfD’s public image. “The portrayal of the AfD as right-wing extremist is clearly false, considering that Alice Weidel, the party’s leader, has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka! Does that sound like Hitler to you? Please!” Musk wrote.
The AfD, while polling strongly, faces significant hurdles, as other major parties refuse to form a coalition with the far-right group.
Musk’s remarks ignited debate across German media about the boundaries of free speech and foreign influence in domestic politics. Alongside Musk’s commentary, the Welt am Sonntag published a critical response by Jan Philipp Burgard, the newspaper group’s incoming editor-in-chief. Burgard acknowledged some validity in Musk’s critique of Germany’s challenges but rejected his conclusion, writing that “his claim that only the AfD can save Germany is fatally wrong.”
The incident has placed additional scrutiny on Welt am Sonntag for providing Musk, a foreign national, with a platform to influence Germany’s political discourse.
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