Musk’s endorsements of Trump have prompted a major backlash in Germany, with mainstream political leaders arguing they amount to election interference. Given Musk’s ties to United States President-elect Donald Trump, one opponent suggested that interference may be coming from the incoming American administration.
The German government must clarify “whether the repeated disrespect, defamation and interference in the election campaign were also expressed in the name of the new U.S. government,” Rolf Mützenich, a prominent politician from Germany’s Social Democratic Party, told German outlet Spiegel.
A spokesperson for the German government also accused Musk of “trying to influence the federal election,” adding: “Freedom of opinion also covers the greatest nonsense.”
It’s unclear whether Musk’s endorsement of the AfD will help the party’s election chances. The AfD is currently polling in second place at 19 percent. Germany’s conservative alliance is in first with 30 percent, putting Friedrich Merz, the leader of the Christian Democratic Union, in pole position to become the next chancellor.
Musk’s support for the AfD raises questions about how Trump will work with Germany’s next likely-conservative-led government. In his first term as president, Trump displayed a particular antipathy toward Germany and the chancellor at the time, Angela Merkel.
Musk conducted a similar live discussion using the X streaming feature Spaces with Trump in August, though the unstructured conversation was hampered by an array of technical difficulties that proved a major embarrassment to the platform.
