According to a report by Euro News, the German government has accused Tesla CEO and entrepreneur Elon Musk of interfering in the country’s upcoming elections because he has supported the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Officials including government spokesman Christian Hoffmann, Social Democratic Party (SPD) co-leader Lars Klingbeil and Friedrich Merz, leader of Germany’s largest opposition party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), condemned Musk’s comments on Germany.
“It is indeed the case that Elon Musk is trying to influence the federal election through his statements,” Hoffman said.
He added that while Musk is “free to express his opinion” it was worth noting that Musk was recommending voting for a party “suspected of being right-wing extremists” by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. and which has already been “identified as right-wing extremist in some quarters.”
SPD co-leader Lars Klingbiel also criticized Musk, comparing him to Russian President Vladimir Putin and accusing him of election interference.
Klingbeil alleged that Musk’s public support of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) ahead of the country’s midterm elections was a deliberate attempt to undermine Germany’s democracy and called for stricter regulation of major internet platforms such as Musk’s X. called upon.
In an interview with Funke Mediengroup on Monday, Klingbiel compared Musk to Putin, saying that “both want to influence our elections and are deliberately supporting the AfD, the enemy of democracy. They want Germany to weaken and Plunge into chaos.”
As Euro News reports, “We need to be more proactive and effectively limit the power of large Internet platforms like Musk’s short messaging service, X. Here, a tech billionaire is out to influence the course of world politics. Trying to use his influence.”
CDU leader Friedrich Merz described Musk’s support of the far-right AfD as an unprecedented example of interference between allies and highlighted the potential economic harm of AfD policies, such as his push for Germany to exit the European Union.
Merz said Musk had ignored several AfD policies when drafting his op-ed, including Germany’s stated desire to leave the European Union According to a report by Euro News, Merz and several others People argue that this would be extremely harmful for Germany’s economy. ,
Last week, Musk sparked controversy in Germany by openly supporting the AfD.
In a post on “
Earlier, Musk had called Chancellor Scholz a “fool” after the collapse of his three-party alliance. Musk posted in German on X: “Olaf ist ein Naar.” The translation of the sentence is – “Olaf is a fool.”
In a major turn of events, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a vote of confidence in his parliament, forcing the country to hold snap elections seven months ahead of schedule.
The vote on December 16 followed the collapse of Scholze’s fragile coalition, sparking a political crisis in the EU’s largest economy.
Only 207 lawmakers in the 733-member lower house, or Bundestag, voted in support of Scholz, while 394 members voted against him and 116 abstained. This left him far short of the majority of 367 required to remain in power. After this, snap elections for the new Parliament will be held on February 23.
In Germany, Scholz – who served as mayor of Hamburg and finance minister before becoming head of the new government in 2021 – accused the Free Democrats of blocking investment in the country.
Seen as a continuity candidate since he took over from Angela Merkel three years ago, he has framed next year’s election as an opportunity to set out a new path for voters, including Voting is a choice between a future of growth versus a future of austerity. To Al Jazeera.
Scholz said that if he received a second term he would invest heavily in Germany’s crumbling infrastructure and not cut spending as he said conservatives wanted.
