Federal election: AfD fan Elon Musk is causing unrest in the German election campaign

US billionaire and Tesla founder Elon Musk has publicly identified himself as an AfD fan, causing a huge stir in the middle of the federal election campaign. The AfD celebrates Musk, former finance minister Christian Lindner offers him a conversation about the FDP, and other parties come with sharp criticism and accusations of interference in the German election campaign. The federal government is initially holding back.

“Only the AfD can save Germany,” Musk wrote on his Platform X about a post by an influencer close to the AfD. AfD leader Alice Weidel thanked her immediately with, “Yes! You’re absolutely right, Elon Musk!” and later sent a video in English addressed to “Dear Elon”. Musk later shared this, which probably gave the clip enormous reach.

Scholz: Freedom of expression also applies to multi-billionaires

The federal government reacted cautiously. Freedom of expression also applies to multi-billionaires, said Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) at a press conference in Berlin. “But freedom of expression also means that you can say things that are not right and do not contain good political advice.” A government spokeswoman had previously not answered several questions about possible consequences and whether it was election interference or election influence from outside.

She simply referred generally to the EU Digital Services Act (DSA) and the EU Commission responsible for it. It is assumed that the DSA is also respected by the platforms. According to this EU law, Tiktok, Facebook, According to the federal government, in addition to hate speech, this also applies to counterfeit products that are offered for sale or the ban on so-called dark patterns, in which users can be tricked into making decisions that they would not have made freely.

Regarding the question of whether the Chancellor’s channel at X would continue to operate, the spokeswoman said that the government was concerned about the development of X since Elon Musk took over. “Nevertheless, when we weigh things up, we always come to the conclusion that we will stay at X.” It is an important medium to reach and inform people.

Musk is now a close advisor to US President-elect Donald Trump, whose election campaign he supported with millions in donations. His posts on X reach more than 200 million followers around the world and are quickly forwarded tens of thousands of times. X is primarily used by journalists, politicians and political influencers and therefore has a great influence on the opinion-forming process in society.

Criticism of interference in the election campaign

Sharp criticism came from various parties. If Musk actively intervenes in the election campaign with his Platform Germany needs neither foreign influences nor Trumpism. “Stay out, Elon,” he demanded. The digital policy spokesman for the Union parliamentary group, Reinhard Brandl (CSU), told “Welt”: “Such a concentration of power and reach in one person is a serious threat to our democracy.”

The left’s leading candidate Heidi Reichinnek said: “Elon Musk is the richest man in the world who bought a mass media in order to force his unfiltered opinion onto millions of people and thus exert influence on the politics of various countries.”

Lindner invites Musk to chat about the FDP

FDP leader Christian Lindner wrote to Musk that the AfD was against freedom and the economy and was a right-wing extremist party. He shouldn’t jump to conclusions from a distance, but rather meet with him and talk about the FDP. His party colleague Wolfgang Kubicki advised overall calmness in view of Musk’s post: “I don’t think that the Tesla drivers in Germany will let this expression of opinion influence their voting decision,” he told “Welt”. He spoke of a private expression of opinion and added that it was fundamentally no different from the election recommendation of the German climate activist Luisa Neubauer for the Democrat Kamala Harris in the USA.

Musk is also involved in British politics

Back in the summer, tech billionaire Musk, who as Tesla boss is one of the largest employers in Brandenburg, praised the AfD after the European elections. The party is described as right-wing extremist, “but the political positions of the AfD that I have read about do not sound extremist,” he wrote on X at the beginning of June. He has also been interfering in British politics for months. He has assured the right-wing populist British party Reform UK of his support and is talking to Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage about a donation.