Elon Musk subsidized the German right’s election to the German Party (AfD) in a guest op-ed in the Welt Am Sonntag newspaper.
The article, online, prompted the editor, in the main of the comments, to resign as a sign of protest.
In the article, Musk expanded on his post on his social media platform X last week claiming that “only the AfD can save Germany”.
“The depiction of the AFD as a right-wing extremist is obviously false, given that Alice Weidel, the leader of the party, has a same-sex spouse from Sri Lanka!
“Does that make you Hitler? Please!”
He added: “The Alternative for Germany is the last spark of hope for this country.”
Germany’s domestic intelligence agency has classified the AfD at the national level as a suspected extremism case since 2021.
Shortly after the piece was published online, the editor of the opinion section, Eva Marie Kogel, wrote on X that she had submitted her resignation, with a link to the commentary.
However, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief appoints Jan Philipp Burgard and Ulf Poschardt, who take over Jan. 1, told Reuters: “Democracy and journalism thrive on freedom of expression.
“It’s about addressing polarizing positions and classifying them from a journalistic perspective. “
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Under Musk’s comment, the newspaper a Burgard reaction.
“Musk’s diagnosis is correct, but his approach to healing, that the AFD can save Germany, is fatally wrong,” he wrote.
Burgard referred to AFD’s preference to leave the European Union and its relations with Russia and China.
It comes as Germans are set to vote on 23 February after a coalition government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz collapsed.
The AFD is the moment in the opinion polls and it would possibly thwart a majority of the right or center-left.