Kaiani, who studies the international far-right movement, said Musk has helped to grow these movements by trading ideas, creating personal connections and building a framework for shared ideology. Ta. And people listen for his wealth.
“It’s very dangerous for non-political actors to speak with some kind of political legitimacy now,” she said. “He’s changing the political paradigm.”
One of the general threads of Musk’s advocacy is the embrace of nationalism or nativeism, regardless of which country he is talking about, or in particular the European countries. Musk has boosted a variety of tastes of American nationalism, German nationalism, British nationalism, Italian nationalism and Dutch nationalism.
In other words, nationalism everywhere, at once.
“Musk has managed to brand himself as a kind of global spokesman,” said Rodrigo Campos, a postdoctoral researcher in politics at York University in the UK, in an email. It states.
“There’s irony about this because far-right leaders usually want to protect the nation from external influences, while Musk is a billionaire who built wealth from the capital of cross-border corporates. In other words, he is a product of neoliberal globalization.”
The correct degree of support for Musk varies by country, including the recognition of X of a particular political party, statements of support for a particular cause, statements of joint appearance with politicians, and joint appearances. So far, he is the wealthiest person in the world, and has made a politician from other countries into his personal fortune to help US Donald Trump last year with more than $290 million. I’m not attracted to it. .
Right-wing politicians and political movements benefit from mask support for the world-renowned celebrities as CEOs of Tesla and SpaceX and the huge megaphone at X, which has 217 million followers .
And since taking office as President Trump last month, masks could also provide foreign leaders with another potential communication line to the White House. Musk joined Trump for multiple meetings with national leaders, including Ukrainian President Voldy Mie Zelensky and Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban.
Musk maintained meetings with world leaders as head of the White House Government Efficiency Office (DOGE). The two men also took photos of two equal state styles.
The Trump White House has forced the mask police to be his own conflict of interest, but some Democrats call Musk’s behavior unethical.
“Musk is working effectively as Secretary of State, and he meets major foreign leaders to seek concessions that make him rich, not concessions that benefit Americans,” Chris said. – Senator Murphy, D-Conn. I said in X.
Mask’s nationality is complicated. He was born and raised in South Africa, retained Canadian citizenship and became a US citizen in 2002.
Now, Musk’s private diplomacy meets an increase in opposition from leaders of several countries who accuse him of inappropriately interfering with domestic politics. Last month, French President Emmanuel Macron accused Musk of promoting a “new international reactionary movement.”
But even Macron may underestimate the vast breadth of masks’ international influence.
“The Carnegie Fund for International Peace,” said Stephen Feldstein, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Fund for International Peace, a centralist think tank founded in 1910.
Feldstein said there is a common thread between the parties Musk supports for politicians and political parties. They are rooted in Nativeism and support deregulation.
“He exclusively threw his support behind not only right-wing politicians, but very extreme parties,” he added. Feldstein said Musk’s voice support for German anti-immigration alternatives is a party outside the mainstream of Germany, where other political parties have previously resisted joining the coalition. The party disregarded Nazi atrocities and used slogans previously employed by Adolf Hitler’s Brown Shirt SA paramilitary.
Musk’s efforts with Doge to reduce government spending have elicited notifications around the world, including Argentina. Musk and Mairay met on multiple occasions.
“Other countries may benefit from ‘doge’ style policies,” said Rita Abrahamsen, professor of public and international affairs at the University of Ottawa in Canada.
Abrahamsen said it was because they shared a special hostility to what radical right politicians consider to be “managementism.” Their own power and profits,” she said.
Musk, like other CEOs of major companies, has a long history of international Hopscott as he has tried to grow the sales and supply chain of its business. Back in 2015, he hosted an Indian Modi at his Tesla factory and talked about battery technology. Last year he met with foreign leaders on business topics, including SpaceX’s Starlink Satellite Internet Service.
But Musk’s approach to foreign leaders began their turn around three years ago in connection with Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.
In December 2021, he posted a meme on X ocking Finland’s then Prime Minister Sannamarin to go to a nightclub in violation of social distancing rules. And two months later, in February 2022, he posted an image of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau comparing him to Hitler due to Trudeau’s pandemic-related policies, which he subsequently deleted.
In 2022, when Musk proposed to end the Russian invasion and hand over Ukrainian territory to anger many Ukrainians and their supporters, and he was the far-right Jea, the then-president of Brazil. -This was when Bolsonaro gave him the Medal of Honor. (Bolsonaro has been charged with a coup charge and told the New York Times last month that he relied on Musk and Trump to avoid Brazilian prisons and help with a political revival.)
But something changed again in the second half of 2023. Musk has begun to speak more vigorously about elections in other countries, particularly Europe. He denounced the changing demographics and the arrival of foreign-born immigrants as “a precursor to civil war.”
In August 2023, he praised Orban in Hungary for trying to increase his birth rate. In September, he shared a social media post from a far-right Italian account that equated immigrants with “European suicide.” In November, he commented positively by “many interesting topics” in an interview with Tucker Carlson with Spanish far-right leader Santiago Abascal, including topics on fertility. Also in November he said that Ireland’s then Prime Minister Leo Baradkar “hate the people of Ireland.” The central right politician, Baradokar, argued that it would be easier to prosecute people for online instigation into hatred.
And in December 2023, Musk traveled to Rome to hold the annual Atrege conference, an international gathering of conservative politicians. There, Musk urged him to “create more Italians to save Italian culture.”
After that, after winning Trump’s election in November, Musk appeared to be newly bold and courted more transnational right-wing figures, including British activists.
Most of the time, Musk’s defense appears to be unrelated or counter to his business interests. For example, he and the German AFD have clear differences of opinion about renewable energy, as well as differences between Musk and Trump on the same subject.
Abascal, the leader of the Spanish party Vox, defended Musk at a press conference before attending Trump’s inauguration last month.
“Now I see a lot of concern about the alleged impact of Elon Musk. Elon Musk simply expresses his opinion and allows others to do the same. It’s From when is it banned?” Abascal said by Spanish newspaper La Vangaldia.
Mask attention is not focused solely on Europe. The 18 countries he expressed support for right-wing movements and policies are spread across all continents except Antarctica.
In Africa, masks have supported far-right politics in South Africa. There, along with South African governments, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, they rebelled. Although there is no significant right-wing political movement in South Africa compared to many other countries, Musk focuses on several positions and policies supported by opposition to the South African majority party.
Specifically, Musk shares the idea that white farmers across the country are victims of a white genocide campaign. The mask also reflects the country’s recent opposition criticism of the land use law, which allows the government to expropriate without compensation when it is unused or when it is in public interest in its redistribution. On February 7, Trump expressed similar criticism of Musk, signing an executive order that cuts aid to South Africa after calling Land Act a “massive human rights violation.”
While US conservatives, including Trump, have been deeply critical of the Chinese government, Musk has remained largely silent on domestic politics within China, and Tesla could be easily influenced by its government relations It has a wide range of activities and sales. He met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and other high-ranking officials.
Meanwhile, Musk is a columnist for Connectors, a local news outlet called Musk, as he has been very active and actively working on Latin American politics, including Argentina, Brazil, El Salvador and Venezuela. He is known as the “Latin American Rights Superhero.” ” Musk posts in support of candidates from across the country, including President Naibe Bukere, president of El Salvador. On February 4th, Trump expressed his openness to offering housing to those deported from the US and deported from convicted American prisons in Salvador.
The turn to international politics coincided with Musk’s first year, which owned the previous Twitter, X.
Michael O’Hanlon, director of foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institute, said the history of such extensive private diplomacy is limited. He stated that Rev. Jesse Jackson embarked on a series of freelance diplomatic trips in 1984, with the humanitarian aim of negotiating the release of Americans held in places such as Syria and Cuba.
Now that Musk is also a member of Trump’s inner circle, his overseas defenses are increasing the chaos of the current administration, O’Hanlon said.
“In the Trump world, it’s another thing that’s far more confusing and destructive than most presidents,” he said.
Carnegie’s donation Feldstein said there is no comprehensive goal in Musk’s international politics.
“I think we have to be careful not to attribute some sort of grand strategy to masks,” he said. “Frankly, I think he’s an impulsive individual.”
