He’s saying the quiet part out loud.
Germany First
In an incredible mask-off moment, Elon Musk has endorsed Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD, per its German initials) — even though, weirdly, the party is against his business interests.
“Only the AfD can save Germany,” the South African-born billionaire wrote on X-formerly-Twitter, quote-tweeting a video from Naomi Seibt, a far-right German YouTuber and apparent fangirl.
In the original English-language video, Seibt took on Freidrich Merz, a conservative politician who’s likely poised to become the next chancellor of Germany, for criticizing Musk’s austere economic vision.
“Basically, the mainstream media have declared Friedrich Merz the winner,” the 24-year-old influencer said, “completely disregarding the existence of the AfD.”
Burn Baby Burn
Musk’s endorsement of the party — which has been linked to neo-Nazi groups and recently fell into disarray after one of its officials said that the Third Reich’s fearsome Schutzstaffel (SS) weren’t necessarily criminals — is yet another example of him shooting himself in the foot.
As folks on X have pointed out, the AfD staunchly opposes the expansion of Tesla’s German Gigafactory in Grunheide, a suburb outside of Berlin. At times, the party whose youth wing the German government considers “certified extremist” has even used violent imagery in its anti-Tesla campaigning, including one poster with a burning Tesla.
“Advent advent ein Tesla brennt,” the poster reads, a reference to a German Christmas carol that replaces “a little light” (“lichtlein”) with Musk’s electric vehicle company.
AfD About It
As Germany’s Deutsche Welle reported earlier this year, Musk has shown sympathy for the AfD despite its opposition.
Though he doesn’t seem to have outright endorsed the AfD until now, the SpaceX and Tesla owner did quote-tweet a post from a xenophobic account in 2023 criticizing German groups for assisting a refugee flotilla traveling from Tunisia to Italy.
“Let’s hope AfD wins the elections to stop this European suicide,” the initial post read. Quote-tweeting it, Musk added “Is the German public aware of this?”
Amid his first foray into American government, Musk is now influence-peddling in Europe too — and he’s willing to cut off his nose to spite his face on both sides of the pond if it achieves his regressive political endgame.
More on Musk’s politicking: Elon Musk Bullies Congress Into Cutting Funding for Child Cancer Research