BERLIN: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday condemned Elon Musk’s support for the far-right in Europe as “totally unacceptable”. This reinforces his previous criticism of Musk’s involvement in the German election campaign.
The controversy over Musk’s political comments further intensified when he recently said that only the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party can “save Germany.”
Last week, the tech billionaire livestreamed his chat with Alice Weidel, the party’s chancellor candidate for Germany’s February 23 election, on his social media platform X, amplifying his message ahead of the vote.
Mr. Trump, who poured money and energy into helping Donald Trump win the U.S. presidential election, has taken an interest in politics in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, raising alarm among politicians across the continent.
The Tesla and SpaceX chief executives also called for the release of jailed British anti-Muslim extremist Tommy Robinson and called British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government “tyrannical”, saying Starmer He argued that he should be imprisoned.
Scholz said it was important to “remain calm” against personal attacks, but said Germany’s future direction would be decided by German voters, not “by the owners of social media channels.”
Asked Friday about Musk’s intervention, he said it was important to “criticize the right things.”
“What we have to criticize is not what billionaires or billionaires from other countries in the global world express their opinions, but what they say,” Scholz said at a news conference.
“He supports the far right across Europe, in the UK, Germany and many other countries, and that is completely unacceptable,” Scholz said. “This puts Europe’s democratic development at risk and threatens our communities. “They are putting themselves at risk and should be criticized.”
According to opinion polls, before the election the AfD was in second place with around 20 percent support, but other parties have refused to cooperate with the party, making it difficult for Weidel to become prime minister. There is no possibility.
Center-right opposition leader Friedrich Merz has also criticized Musk’s support for AfD.
Merz’s coalition bloc is leading in opinion polls, making him the front-runner to become Germany’s next leader.
