Elon Musk is backing the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
“Only the AfD can save Germany,” the billionaire X owner wrote on the platform on Friday in the latest of a series of endorsements of European far-right parties.
Musk has recently backed European populist-right politicians in increasingly clear terms, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage. Earlier this week, Farage boasted that Musk is “right behind” him — and raised the prospect that the tech tycoon would financially back his Reform UK party.
AfD leaders were pleased by Musk’s endorsement.
“Yes! You are perfectly right!” Alice Weidel, the AfD’s chancellor candidate, posted on X shortly after Musk’s missive. Weidel then plugged a recent interview she gave on, as she put it, how “socialist [Angela] Merkel ruined our country” and how “the Soviet European Union” was destroying Germany.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz also responded to Musk’s post when asked about it at a press conference in Berlin.
“We have freedom of speech, which also applies to multi-billionaires,” said Scholz.” But freedom of speech also means you can say things that are not right and do not contain good political advice.”
The AfD is polling in second place ahead of Germany’s early election, set for Feb. 23, potentially setting it up to become the largest opposition party in the next parliament.
Musk, who is closely allied to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, has longed expressed sympathy for the AfD — but, also, some uncertainty about the party’s stances.
“Why is there such a negative reaction from some about AfD?” the tech billionaire wrote on X in June. “They keep saying ‘far right,’ but the policies of AfD that I’ve read about don’t sound extremist. Maybe I’m missing something.”
The AfD is surging despite its growing radicalism and persistent warnings from mainstream leaders that it is an extremist, even Nazi, party. Growing support for the far right comes despite state-level domestic intelligence authorities classifying some local branches of the party as extremist organizations aiming to undermine German democracy.
Musk lent his support to the AfD while reposting a video by Naomi Seibt, a German right-wing influencer known for her closeness to the AfD and for denying climate change caused by humans. German media have dubbed her the “anti-Greta,” in reference to Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, and in the video reposted by Musk, she described the German Greens’ environmental policies as “eco-socialist national suicide.”
Seibt’s video mainly consisted of an attack on conservative German leader Friedrich Merz, who is leading the race to become the next chancellor, for his refusal to work with the AfD and his supposed criticism of what she called the “pro freedom” policies of Elon Musk and Argentina’s President Javier Milei.
Musk, a U.S. citizen — who spent more than a quarter-billion dollars to help elect Trump — is considering donating up to $100 million to support Farage’s right-wing party in the U.K., according to media reports.
He wouldn’t be able to support the AfD in the same way. Non-EU foreigners are only allowed to donate up to a maximum of €1,000, according to German law.
“This is not the first time that Elon Musk has commented on German politics on X,” a German government spokesperson said in reaction to Musk’s post, adding Berlin had taken note of his most recent statement but did not want to comment further.
This story has been updated.
