By Stefan Heinemeyer and Leonard Fischer, dpa
“Far more concerning than such insults is the fact that Musk supports a partly far-right party like the AfD, which advocates rapprochement with Putin’s Russia and seeks to weaken transatlantic relations.”
Germany’s BfV domestic intelligence agency is monitoring the national AfD party as a suspected right-wing extremist group, and several state-level party organizations have already received that designation.
The AfD has made major gains in eastern Germany and is seen as increasing its support in the federal elections scheduled for February 23. It is currently polling between 18% and 20% ahead of the election, almost double the 10.4% it received in the last election in 2021.
Robert Habeck, the Green Party’s candidate in the upcoming election, warned Musk, a top supporter of US President-elect Donald Trump, against meddling in Germany’s election. “Hands off our democracy, Mr. Musk!”
Musk, who is known for his provocative postings on his social media platform X, has been causing unrest in German politics for days
Scholz unfazed by personal insults
The chancellor said he was less concerned about Musk’s personal attacks.
Musk, the owner of Tesla and the social media platform X, had called Scholz a “fool” and Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier an “undemocratic tyrant.”
Scholz rejected that, saying: “The federal president is not an anti-democratic tyrant and Germany is a strong and stable democracy – Musk can claim what he likes. In Germany, it is the will of the citizens that counts, not the erratic statements of a billionaire from the USA.”
Scholz does not intend to invite Musk to the chancellery. “I see no reason to court Mr. Musk’s favour. I am happy to leave that to others.”
Scholz: Insults rich media tycoons are par for the course
“As Social Democrats, we have been accustomed since the penultimate century to wealthy media entrepreneurs who do not appreciate social democratic politics – and are not shy about expressing their opinions,” Scholz told Stern.
Scholz said things are somewhat different today because media companies and platforms now have a worldwide reach.
“But in essence, it is nothing new. One must remain cool,” said the SPD politician.
Scholz: AfD was once against Tesla’s German factory
Scholz said that he had met Musk once in March 2022 at the opening of the Tesla factory in Grünheide near Berlin and had a brief conversation with him.
At that time, he said, the local AfD was lobbying against the establishment of the factory in Grünheide.
At the weekend, the tech billionnaire endorsed the AfD with a lengthy opinion piece published in the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
A few months after the factory opening in Grünheide, Musk contacted Scholz again by phone with a personal request regarding the federal government’s plans to subsidize electric charging stations across the country. Tesla has operates its own system of charging stations in Germany.
“It is no secret that Tesla was against the government funding for electric charging stations in Germany,” the chancellor said.
