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Tesla General director Elon Muska donor and adviser to the president-elect Donald Trumpis now seeking to influence the German election by placing the endorsement of the country’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on X.
In a post On Thursday evening, Musk wrote: “Only the AfD can save Germany.”
Musk, who has more than 200 million followers on a website he owns, made the comment after sharing a post by far-right influencer Naomi Seibt, who claimed that “the presumptive next chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz (CDU), is horrified at the idea that Germany should take the example of Elon Musk and Javier Milea,” referring to the president of Argentina.
Zaibt has a history of promoting white nationalist ideology, The Guardian reported earlierand denied the authenticity scientific consensus around climate change, namely that it is driven by fossil fuel emissions.
In a message on X, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) called Musk “a ridiculous billionaire running the Trump administration” who “enthusiastically supports a neo-Nazi party in Germany.”
“The AfD’s mission is to rehabilitate the image of the Nazi movement,” Murphy wrote. He added that one of the party leaders has a license plate that is “an open tribute to Hitler” and another “has described Judaism as the ‘internal enemy’ in Germany”.
Musk and Tesla’s investor relations team did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
On Friday, no Chancellor Olaf Scholza center-left Social Democrat, rejected Musk’s claim that only the far-right party could “save Germany.”
Under the leadership of Scholz, GermanyRussia’s left-wing coalition collapsed in November, and the AfD is now in second place ahead of elections in February. Across Germany, where the AfD has placed highly in state elections, other parties have routinely refused to form coalitions with it.
According to Pew Research, “AfD ran the campaign against arms supplies to Ukraine and called for an end of sanctions on Russia”, shared Musk’s point of view.
Far-right parties have also gained ground in the Netherlands, Austria, Finland and other countries. Many hailed Trump’s election, which Musk helped fund with $277 million in campaign contributions and related Republican causes.
Tesla shares are up about 75% after Trump’s victory, surpassing its previous all-time high since 2021 last week.
AfD has according to reports criticized Tesla and its factory outside Berlin. The party argued that many of Tesla’s thousands of workers commute from Poland or Berlin, limiting the economic benefits for the local community in Brandenburg.
The AfD generally sees electric cars as part of an ideological climate movement and does not favor the German car industry.
Europe has been a tough market for Tesla this year. Tesla sales fell 40.9% in November, outpacing the overall 9.5% drop in sales of battery electric vehicles, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association.
Elsewhere in Europe, Musk has endorsed right-wing Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and expressed support for Britain’s Nigel Farage, the populist politician and head of Reform UK. In South America, Musk supported and is friends with Argentine President Milley, who calls himself an anarcho-capitalist.
A driver drove his car into a crowd at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany on Friday, killing people and injuring dozens.
In response to a message on X showing Chancellor Scholz at a press conference after the incident, Musk wrote: “Scholz must resign immediately. Incompetent fool.”
