Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk caused a ruckus after reversing Germany’s right-wing extremist party in a major newspaper ahead of key parliamentary elections in the Western European country, leading to the resignation of the newspaper’s opinion editor in protest.
Germany will hold early elections on February 23 after Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party ruling coalition collapsed last month in a dispute over how to revive the country’s stagnant economy.
Musk’s weekend op-ed in German for Welt am Sonntag – a sister publication of Axel Springer Group’s POLITICO – was the second time this month he has endorsed the Alternative for Germany (AfD).
“The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is the last spark of hope for this country,” Musk wrote in his translated comment.
He continued that the far-right party “can lead the country toward a future where economic prosperity, cultural integrity and technological innovation are not just wishes but reality.”
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The CEO of Tesla Motors also wrote that his investment in Germany gives him the right to comment on the country’s situation.
The AfD is doing well in the polls, but its leading candidate Alice Weidel has no realistic chance of becoming chancellor because other parties refuse to work with the far-right party.
In his opinion piece, the technology billionaire questioned the party’s public image.
“The portrayal of the AfD as right-wing extremist is clearly false, considering that party leader Alice Weidel has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka! Does that sound like Hitler to you? Please!”
Musk’s comments have sparked a debate in the German media about the limits of free expression, with the newspaper’s own opinion editor announcing her resignation, clearly on Musk’s social media platform X.
“I always enjoyed leading the opinion section of WELT and WAMS. Today an article by Elon Musk appeared in Welt am Sonntag. “I submitted my resignation yesterday after going to press,” wrote Eva Marie Kogel.
A critical article by the future editor-in-chief of the Welt Group, Jan Philipp Burgard, accompanied Musk’s opinion piece.
“Musk’s diagnosis is correct, but his therapeutic approach, that only the AfD can save Germany, is fatally wrong,” wrote Burgard.
In response to a request from the German Press Agency (dpa), the current editor-in-chief of the Welt Group, Ulf Poschardt, and Burgard, who will take over as director on January 1st, said in a joint statement that the discussion about Musk’s article was “very insightful. Democracy and journalism thrive on freedom of expression.”
“This will continue to determine the compass of the “world” in the future. We will develop “Die Welt” even more decisively as a forum for such debates,” they wrote to the dpa.
Musk waded heavily invested in the 2024 US presidential election and put millions into electing the future President Donald Trump. Trump rewarded him after the election Appointment of Musk to lead the newly created group Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, with Vivek Ramaswamy.
Musk and Ramaswamy were implicated over the weekend on X, the social media platform Musk owns, about H-1B visas, which apply to highly skilled workers. Musk, who entered the U.S. on an H-1B visa, defended the use of the policy amid backlash from Laura Loomer and other Trump supporters who favor tough immigration policies.
In an interview with the New York PostTrump said he “always liked the visas” despite trying to change the program the first time around.
“I have many H-1B visas for my properties. I believed in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program,” Trump told the newspaper.
