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German politicians have criticized media group Axel Springer for publishing an opinion piece by Elon Musk praising the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, as anger grows over the tech billionaire's growing advocacy of right-wing populist parties in Europe.
Matthias Mersch, Secretary General of Germany's ruling Social Democratic Party, said it was “shameful and dangerous” that Axel Springer's offer Musk platform by publishing his article in one of its newspapers, Welt am Sonntag.
“It is unacceptable for foreign billionaires to try to influence our political landscape and support parties that undermine our democratic values,” he told Handelsblatt newspaper.
Musk's pro-AfD article comes less than two months before early elections in Germany sparked by the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-party coalition. Opinion polls have Alternative for Germany party In second place behind the center-right Christian Democrats, while Schulz's Social Democratic Party took third place.
Andreas Audretsch, a senior Green Party MP who is leading the party's election campaign, took to X to criticize the article.
“It harms our democracy when Mr. Musk, the Chinese state, or Moscow troll factories subvert our democratic discourse,” he said. “That's why the right-wing extremists in the AfD love it all so much.”
Eva-Marie Coghill, comments editor at Welt magazine, announced over the weekend that she had resigned, citing anger over the decision to publish Musk's article in the newspaper's newsroom.
“Journalism lives on independence and credibility, while Die Welt lives on its reputation,” says Mika Poister, president of the German Journalists' Association. “It's all thrown into the trash, with a great clank.”
Musk, a close advisor to US President-elect Donald Trump and A friend Matthias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer, used the op-ed to praise the AfD, large parts of which have been labeled as extremists by German domestic intelligence and placed under surveillance. The party also called for the mass deportation of foreigners.
Musk described Germany as being on the verge of economic and cultural collapse, and said that the Alternative for Germany party is the country's “last spark of hope,” praising its policies of market liberalization, tax cuts, and red tape reduction, as well as its opposition to immigration. .
He also dismissed the idea that the AfD is “far-right,” pointing out that its co-leader, Alice Weidel, is in a same-sex relationship with a Sri Lankan woman. “Does this sound like Hitler to you? Please!” books.
Musk is investing heavily in Germany, where Tesla has built its first European factory. But his plans to expand the factory in Brandenburg have faced stiff local resistance this year, including from AfD politicians in the state.
The article's publication came just over a week after Musk retweeted a video by a German right-wing activist, adding: “Only the AfD can save Germany.” Weidel replied: “Yes! You are absolutely right!
The Alternative for Germany party is the latest far-right European organization to win Musk's support.
Nigel Farage recently suggested that Musk could donate to Reform UK, telling the BBC that his party was in “ongoing negotiations” with the tech mogul after the pair met at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort.
He also waded into the row between Farage and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, and placed a fact-checking alert on Badenoch's tweets in which she claimed Reform UK had falsified its membership numbers.
Earlier this year, Musk praised far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, calling her “a more beautiful person on the inside than she is on the outside” and “authentic, honest and thoughtful.” She responded in kind by praising his “precious genius.”
Insiders at Axel Springer, which also owns Politico, rejected criticism that, by publishing the article, they were giving Musk and the far right a platform.
One of them said: “He is the owner of Twitter, and with one tweet he can reach 200 million people.” “Who is the world to give him a platform? He is a platform. It is better to post this on our platform where we can protect it and surround it with our own opinions.”
