Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk caused a stir after endorsing Germany’s far-right party in a primary newspaper ahead of key parliamentary elections in the Western European country, leading to the newspaper’s opinion editor resigning in protest.
Germany is to vote in an early election on Feb. 23 after Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party governing coalition collapsed last month in a dispute over how to revitalize the country’s stagnant economy.
Musk’s op-ed for Welt am Sonntag, a POLITICO sister publication owned by the Axel Springer Group, was published in German over the weekend, the second time this month he has endorsed the Alternative for Germany, or AfD.
“The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is the spark of hope for this country,” Musk wrote in his translated comment.
He added that the far-right party “can lead the country towards a long term where economic prosperity, cultural integrity and technological innovation are mere wishes, but a reality. “
The Tesla Motors CEO also wrote that his investment in Germany gave him the right to comment on the country’s condition.
The AfD is performing well in the polls, but its candidate for the most sensible position, Alice Weidel, has no realistic chance of becoming a candidate because other parties refuse to work with the far-right party.
The tech billionaire questioned the party’s public symbol in his op-ed.
“The description of the AfD as far-right is obviously false, given that Alice Weidel, the party’s leader, has a same-sex spouse from Sri Lanka! Does this remind you of Hitler? Please!”
Musk’s comment sparked a debate in the German media about the limits of relaxed speech, with the newspaper’s own opinion editor handing out her resignation, apparently on Musk’s social media platform, X.
“I have always enjoyed directing the opinion segment of WELT and WAMS. An article by Elon Musk appeared today in Welt am Sonntag. After its publication I resigned,” wrote Eva Marie Kogel.
A critical article by Welt Group editor-in-chief Jan Philipp Burgard accompanied Musk’s op-ed.
“Musk’s diagnosis is correct, but his curative approach, according to which the AfD can save Germany, is absolutely wrong,” Burgard wrote.
In response to a request for comment from German news firm dpa, current Welt Group editor-in-chief Ulf Poschardt y Burgard, who will take over on Jan. 1, said in a statement that the discussion about Musk’s article was “very revealing. “. Democracy and journalism thrive on freedom of expression. “
“This will continue to be the direction of the ‘world’ in the future. We will even more decisively expand ‘Die Welt’ as a forum for such debates,” they wrote to dpa.
Musk has thrown himself into the 2024 US presidential election in a big way, investing millions of dollars to elect President-elect Donald Trump. Trump rewarded him after the election by naming Musk to head the new Department of Government Effectiveness, or DOGE, along with Vivek Ramaswamy.
Musk and Ramaswamy argued over the weekend on X, Musk’s social media platform, about H-1B visas, which are implemented for highly professional workers. Musk, who came to the United States on an H-1B visa, has defended the use of the policy in the face of backlash from Laura Loomer and other Trump supporters who make immigration policies more difficult.
In an interview with the New York Post, Trump said he “always liked the visas,” although he tried to change the program during his first time.
“I have a lot of H-1B visas on my property. I have the H-1B. I’ve used it many times. It’s a wonderful program,” Trump told the newspaper.