German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. File | Photo credit: Reuters
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he was “calm” about Elon Musk’s personal critical comments, but said the US billionaire was a member of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. )’ is trying to get involved in the general election, he said.
Scholz said Musk, a close ally of US President-elect Donald Trump, called Trump a “stupid” after the coalition government collapsed in November, and later supported the AfD in an op-ed he wrote for a major German newspaper. I was repulsed.
Musk comments on German Chancellor Scholz
“Rich media entrepreneurs who do not appreciate social democratic politics and do not support social democratic policies,” Scholz, leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), said in comments published in the German magazine Stern on Saturday. “There is nothing new” in the criticism, he said. Please give their opinion back. ”
“You have to stay calm,” Scholz told Stern.
“More than such insults,” Scholz said, “Mr. Musk has criticized parties like the AfD, which has a right-wing extremist side that advocates closer ties with President Vladimir Putin’s Russia and wants to weaken transatlantic relations.” I’m much more concerned about what I support.”
The AfD is being monitored by Germany’s domestic intelligence services as a suspected right-wing extremist group, and is already recognized as such in some German states.
Germany plans to hold early parliamentary elections on February 23 after Scholz’s three-party coalition government collapsed in November over a dispute over how to revitalize the stagnant economy.
Musk supports AfD
Musk recently caused an uproar after endorsing the AfD in an op-ed in World Newspaper, which led to the paper’s editor-in-chief Eva Marie Kogel resigning in protest.
“Alternative for Germany (AfD) is the last spark of hope for this country,” Musk wrote in a translated commentary.
The Tesla Motors CEO also wrote that his investment in Germany gave him the right to comment on the situation there.
Although the AfD is doing well in the polls, there is no realistic chance that top candidate Alice Weidell will become prime minister as other parties refuse to align with the far-right party.
issued – January 4, 2025 7:22pm IST
