WARSAW, Poland (AP) – Tech billionaire Elon Musk broadcast live a conversation with a leader of Germany far-right party Thursday, amplifying his message ahead of upcoming national elections and raising concerns across Europe about possible interference by the world’s richest man.
Musk worked last year to help re-elect Donald Trump in the United States. Now Musk, who controls an influential social media platform, X, which often spreads disinformation, is using it to support the Alternative for Germany party ahead of the Feb. 23 election.
“Only the AfD can save Germany,” Musk wrote on X on December 20, using the acronym for the party, known in German as the Alternative für Deutschland. He then doubled down on his support for the AfD in an article in the Welt am Sonntag newspaper, saying that center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Germany was “on the brink of economic and cultural collapse.”
Musk’s conversation with AfD co-leader and chancellor candidate Alice Weidel began at 7 p.m. in Germany (1800 GMT). At the start of their conversation, the two men agreed that German taxes are too high, there is too much immigration and that it was a mistake for the country to close its nuclear power plants. More than 190,000 X accounts followed the conversation.
The political incursions of the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX are causing concern across Europe.
In addition to support the AfD, Musk demanded the release of Imprisoned British anti-Islam extremist Tommy Robinson and called British Prime Minister Keir Starmer an evil tyrant who should be in prison. In Poland, some fear that he could use his influence to interfere in the presidential election in May.
Musk’s online chat will be monitored by watchdogs at the European Commission, which has accused of violating the 27-nation bloc’s sweeping digital rules aimed at cleaning up social media platforms and protecting internet users from online dangers.
Commission officials say Musk has the right to express his views, but that the regulation – known as the Digital Services Act – is designed to limit the risks of the platforms being misused. are used to amplify illegal content, including hate speech or election-related misinformation.
The commission investigated whether X was compliant. In its preliminary findings published last year, Brussels said the platform was in breach because its blue checkmarks initially intended to serve as verification badges are misleading and because it does not meet transparency and accountability requirements. Regulators are still investigating other possible violations.
In Germany, the AfD has grown in popularity, with polls showing it becoming the country’s second most popular party after traditional conservatives, as the taboo around the far right weakens across Europe . Yet the leading conservative Christian Democrats are favored to win the election, with the latest poll showing them 31% support, compared to 20% for the AfD.
The AfD has been placed under surveillance by Germany’s domestic intelligence services over suspicion of extremism, and major parties have avoided working with it. The AfD strongly rejected the designation, describing it as a political attempt to discredit the party.
The AfD was established in 2013 and has gradually moved to the right. His program initially centered on opposition to bailouts for struggling eurozone members, but his vehement opposition to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to allow large numbers of refugees and other migrants in 2015 made the party an important political force.
Support for the AfD has grown due to dissatisfaction with the three-party coalition government of center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz. This growing popularity also reflects growing frustration with Germany’s involvement in the European Union and NATO and its strong alliance with the United States, seen as an erosion of national sovereignty.
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AP Business Writer Kelvin Chan in London contributed to this report.
