BERLIN – Elon Musk, a prominent figure in the tech industry, sparked controversy by endorsing Germany’s far-right party in a prominent newspaper prior to crucial parliamentary elections in the country. This endorsement resulted in the resignation of the newspaper’s opinion editor as a form of protest.
Germany is preparing for an early election on Feb. 23 following the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s governing coalition, comprised of three parties, due to disagreements on how to boost the nation’s sluggish economy.
Musk expressed his support for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party for the second time this month in an op-ed featured in Welt am Sonntag, a publication affiliated with POLITICO and owned by the Axel Springer Group. The op-ed was printed in German over the weekend.
“The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is the last spark of hope for this country,” Musk wrote in his translated commentary.
He went on to say the far-right party “can lead the country into a future where economic prosperity, cultural integrity and technological innovation are not just wishes, but reality.”
The Tesla Motors CEO also wrote that his investment in Germany gave him the right to comment on the country’s condition.
The AfD is polling strongly, but its candidate for the top job, Alice Weidel, has no realistic chance of becoming chancellor because other parties refuse to work with the far-right party.
An ally of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, the technology billionaire challenged in his opinion piece the party’s public image.
“The portrayal of the AfD as right-wing extremist is clearly false, considering that Alice Weidel, the party’s leader, has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka! Does that sound like Hitler to you? Please!”
Musk’s commentary has led to a debate in German media over the boundaries of free speech, with the paper’s own opinion editor announcing her resignation, pointedly on Musk’s social media platform, X.
“I always enjoyed leading the opinion section of WELT and WAMS. Today an article by Elon Musk appeared in Welt am Sonntag. I handed in my resignation yesterday after it went to print,” Eva Marie Kogel wrote.
A critical article by the future editor-in-chief of the Welt group, Jan Philipp Burgard, accompanied Musk’s opinion piece.
“Musk’s diagnosis is correct, but his therapeutic approach, that only the AfD can save Germany, is fatally wrong,” Burgard wrote.
Responding to a request for comment from the German Press Agency, dpa, the current editor-in-chief of the Welt group, Ulf Poschardt, and Burgard — who is due to take over on Jan. 1 — said in a joint statement that the discussion over Musk’s piece was “very insightful. Democracy and journalism thrive on freedom of expression.”
“This will continue to determine the compass of the “world” in the future. We will develop “Die Welt” even more decisively as a forum for such debates,” they wrote to dpa.
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