Billionaire Trump adviser said his ‘significant investments’ in the country justify his wading into German politics

Summary

Elon Musk published a controversial opinion piece in Germany’s Welt am Sonntag supporting the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, prompting the newspaper’s opinion editor to resign.

Musk denied the AfD’s extremism, citing its leader’s same-sex relationship, and reiterated his claim that “only the AfD can save Germany.”

The AfD, classified as a suspected extremism case by Germany’s intelligence agency, has surged in polls ahead of February elections.

Musk’s support drew backlash, with critics highlighting the AfD’s anti-immigration stance and calls to leave the EU.

    • ShittyBeatlesFCPres@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      6 days ago

      I don’t know about the court of public opinion but there is a Tesla “gigafactory” there and some sort of research lab. SpaceX has launched some military satellites for Germany and Starlink is valuable militarily with no viable competition yet (though plenty is apparently on the way). X is still valuable for propaganda and my guess is people aren’t as sick of his shit outside the U.S. yet.

      I don’t know if Neuralink did any monkey torture there. But that probably isn’t valuable to Germany anyway. They can probably source monkeys without anyone’s help.

    • GBU_28@lemm.eeEnglish
      4·
      6 days ago

      Unfortunately being the richest person on the planet gets you certain access and platform,… Anywhere

    • DarkThoughts@fedia.io
      9·
      6 days ago

      Money can buy influence. Although the multi party system in Germany inherently makes it more protected against meddling, since you’d somehow have to buy out all or at least most major parties. And with where the AfD stands it is hard to find any allies here. The FDP unsurprisingly supported Musk before this article but backpedaled hard right after.