Tech entrepreneur and Donald Trump confidante Elon Musk has taken a surprising new public step in support of Germany’s far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD), giving the country’s Welt Am.・Published a supportive guest opinion article in Sonntag newspaper. He urged the commentary editor to resign in protest.
The German-language commentary was published online on Saturday and on Sunday in the flagship newspaper of Axel Springer, the media group that also owns the US political news site Politico.
Musk has used populist and personal language to try to refute the AfD’s extremist tendencies, and the paper appears on his social media platform where he claimed last week that “Only the AfD can save Germany.” I am expanding my posts to X further.
Musk’s article was translated to read: “Portraying the AfD as right-wing extremists is patently false considering party leader Alice Weidell has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka!” There is. Does that sound like Hitler? please! “
Since 2021, Germany’s domestic intelligence agency has classified the AfD as a suspected extremist incident at the national level.
Shortly after the article was published online, Opinion section editor Eva Marie Kogel used the US tech mogul’s own platform to post on X that she had submitted her resignation.
“I have always enjoyed leading the opinion department at Welt & Wams. Today a text by Elon Musk was published in Welt am Sonntag. Yesterday I submitted my resignation after it went to print,” she said. posted.
She included a link to Musk’s commentary.
The AfD has a strong anti-immigration stance and, like President-elect Donald Trump, has called for mass deportations from Germany in its relationship with the United States. In early December, Musk not only posted support for the AfD, but the party’s hard-line stance on immigration seemed to resonate with incoming U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, MSNBC reported.
The Welt Group’s senior statistics were released on Saturday.
“Democracy and journalism thrive on freedom of expression. This includes addressing polarizing positions and classifying them journalistically,” said Jan Philipp, who was named editor-in-chief of the paper. Burgaard and Ulf Poshaert, who will take over as publisher on January 1, told Reuters.
They said the discussion around Musk’s article, which generated about 340 comments in the hours after it was published, was “highly thought-provoking.”
The newspaper published Burgard’s response below Musk’s comments.
“Musk’s diagnosis is correct, but his therapeutic approach, that only the AfD can save Germany, is a fatal mistake.” Referring to the AfD’s desire to also get closer to Russia, he wrote:
Musk and Weidell later posted a link to X’s article.
Musk’s support for the AfD was a defense of his right to influence German politics, citing his “huge investments,” and came after the German people were in a 2019 coalition after the coalition government led by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz collapsed in the final stages. The vote was held ahead of the vote on April 23rd. This fall.
Although the AfD ranks second in opinion polls and could thwart a centre-right or centre-left majority, Germany’s mainstream centrist parties avoid any support from the AfD at the national level. I promise you that.
