Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk caused a ruckus after reversing Germany Ahead of key parliamentary elections in the Western European country, the far-right party made comments in a major newspaper, leading to the paper’s opinion editor resigning 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 guest opinion piece for World on Sunday – a sister publication of POLITICALLY owned by the Axel Springer Group – published in German over the weekend – it was the second time this month that he had supported the Alternative for Germanyor AfD.
“The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is the last spark of hope for this country,” Musk wrote in his translated comment.
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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.”
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.
As an ally of US President-elect Donald Trump, the technology billionaire questioned the party’s public image in his opinion piece.
“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 running the opinion section QUADEL And JERKIN. Today an article by Elon Musk appeared in World on Sunday. “I submitted my resignation yesterday after going to press,” wrote Eva Marie Kogel.
A critical article by the future editor-in-chief of Wheal 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 for a statement: dpathe current editor-in-chief of the Wheal The group, Ulf Poschardt, and Burgard – who is set to take over on January 1 – said in a joint statement that the discussion of Musk’s contribution 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 continue to develop The world all the more decisive as a forum for such debates,” they wrote dpa.
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