German government seeks to downplay Musk's backing of far-right party ahead of general election

BERLIN — The German government on Monday sought to downplay efforts by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk to get involved in the country's general election campaign by again endorsing the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party.

Musk caused uproar over the weekend after backing the AfD in an opinion piece in a major newspaper, leading to the resignation of the paper’s opinion editor in protest.

“Freedom of expression also includes the greatest nonsense," government spokesperson Christiane Hoffmann said, adding that she wouldn't comment further on Musk's statements.

She did, however, say that “it is indeed the case that Elon Musk is trying to influence the federal election through his statement."

In that context, Hoffmann also pointed out that the AfD is being monitored by Germany's domestic intelligence service on suspicion of being right-wing extremist and that it has already been recognized as such in some individual German states.

Germany is to vote in an early election on Feb. 23 after Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party governing coalition collapsed last month in a dispute over how to revitalize the country’s stagnant economy.

Musk’s guest opinion piece for Welt am Sonntag published in German over the weekend, was the second time this month he had supported Alternative for Germany, or AfD.

“The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is the last spark of hope for this country,” Musk wrote in his translated commentary.

He went on to say the far-right party “can lead the country into a future where economic prosperity, cultural integrity and technological innovation are not just wishes, but reality.”

The Tesla Motors CEO also wrote that his investment in Germany gave him the right to comment on the country’s condition.

The AfD is polling strongly, but its candidate for the top job, Alice Weidel, has no realistic chance of becoming chancellor because other parties refuse to work with the far-right party.

An ally of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, the technology billionaire challenged in his opinion piece the party’s public image.

“The portrayal of the AfD as right-wing extremist is clearly false, considering that Alice Weidel, the party’s leader, has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka! Does that sound like Hitler to you? Please!”

Musk’s commentary has led to a debate in German media over the boundaries of free speech, with the paper’s own opinion editor announcing her resignation, pointedly on Musk’s social media platform, X.

“I always enjoyed leading the opinion section of WELT and WAMS. Today an article by Elon Musk appeared in Welt am Sonntag. I handed in my resignation yesterday after it went to print,” Eva Marie Kogel wrote.

The newspaper was attacked by politicians and other media for offering Musk, a foreigner, a platform.

Musk’s opinion piece in the Welt am Sonntag was accompanied by a critical article by the future editor-in-chief of the Welt group, Jan Philipp Burgard, who wrote that while some of Musk's diagnoses of Germany's problems may be correct “his therapeutic approach, that only the AfD can save Germany, is fatally wrong.”