Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
In the United States, right-wing billionaire Elon Musk recently helped to elect a conservative political leader (Donald Trump) from using their X social platform to flood the internet with right-wing propaganda which made American liberals look like depraved degenerates. Now, it looks like it’s trying to do the same thing in Europe. However, in recent days, a number of European officials have criticized the billionaire and his attempts to intervene in the politics of their nations.
On Monday, Keir Starmer, the prime minister of the United Kingdom, held a press conference in which he defends himself against the continued attacks made by Musk, who has spent the last few weeks fanning the flames of a scandal that he claims is linked to Starmer. The scandal in question involves the phenomenon of “grooming gangs” in the north of England, which are said to be composed largely of perpetrators of Heritage of South Asia or British Pakistan. Starmer headed the Crown Prosecution Service, Britain’s justice department, when the scandal broke, more than a decade ago. Although there is little evidence for his assertions, Musk accused Starmer of misconduct in handling the case, and said he must “face charges for his complicity in the worst mass crime in British history”. The intention seems to be to use the scandal to tar the reputation of Starmer’s government and replace it with one that is more susceptible to Musk’s interests.
During the press conference, Starmer hit back at the American billionaire, saying: “The sexual exploitation of children is very disgusting. For many years, too many victims have been completely taken down. Those who spread lies and misinformation the farthest and widest It’s possible they’re not interested in the victims, they’re interested in themselves.” Starmer did not name Musk directly during his address, although his connection to the business was evident.
Musk recently stated that King Charles should dissolve the British parliament to restore the “security” of the country. On Monday, it doubled, post a poll on X in which he asked users if America should “liberate the people of Great Britain from their tyrannical government.” At the same time, he accused sex offender and men’s rights activist Andrew Tate announces his political ambitions to replace Starmer as PM.
Musk’s dispute with Starmer has inspired other European leaders to criticize him. In a speech he made on Monday to the French ambassadors, the French leader Emmanuel Macron seemed to characterize Musk as a toxic influence on European politics: “Who would have thought, if we had been told that the owner of one of the largest social networks in the world supports the new international reactionary movement and intervenes directly in the ‘elections?’ Macron said. In X, Musk next insults against Macron, took back the French leader’s comments with his own rebuttal.
Moss has also been criticized by Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, who said on Monday that it was “worrying” that the billionaire and close ally of Trump was so openly trying to hack European politics. “I think that a man with huge access to social media and great financial resources is so directly involved in the internal affairs of other countries,” Støre told public broadcaster NRK. “This is not how it should be between democracies and allies.”
Meanwhile, Musk sparked more drama when he broke up with MP Nigel Farage on Monday. A longtime ally of the American political right, Musk nonetheless called on Farage to resign. “The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes,” Musk tweeted. The tweet came just days after Musk endorsed Tommy Robinson, a jailed far-right activist who, like Farage, has disparaged Muslims and immigrants.
Shortly after Musk’s attack, Farage posted a video about X in which he denounced the Starmer government and drew attention to the gang-rape scandal. “Keir Starmer is sweeping the failures of the establishment under the carpet,” Farage said in the video. “Nothing less than a full national inquiry into gang rapes will do.” Musk then reposted Farage’s video, just write: “Yes”.
Musk has also drawn criticism from the European Union over his plans to interview far-right German politician Alice Weidel, the head of the Alternative for Germany party, or AfD. Indeed, in between suggesting that America should depose the leader of one of its longest-standing allies and advocating for convicted criminals to run for office, Musk has also supported the far-right party in Germany. Musk previously stated that only AfD can “save Germany” – a controversial comment, given the fact that AfD has been linked to neo-Nazis. The EU has announced the plans to monitor Musk’s interview with Weidel to make sure it doesn’t run afoul of its content moderation rules.
Despite his current ascendancy, it is unclear how long Musk’s political career will last. Musk has hitched his wagon to Trump’s star, so his political power seems to be based largely on the health of his relationship. To a recent podcast episodeNew York Times reporter Maggie Haberman told tech reporter Kara Swisher “Trump is complaining a little bit to people about how much Musk is around.”
