U.S. billionaire Elon Musk has backed the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as the European country gears up for elections in February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The AfD is running second in opinion polls and might be able to thwart either a centre-right or centre-left majority. However Germany\u2019s mainstream, more centrist parties have promised to refuse to form a coalition with the AfD at the national level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOnly the AfD can save Germany,\u201d Musk wrote on Friday in a post on his social media platform, X. Europe\u2019s largest economy is expected to vote on February 23 after a centre-left coalition government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz collapsed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Musk, who is set to join US President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s administration as an adviser, has already expressed support for other far-right, anti-immigration parties across Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The German government said it has taken note of Musk\u2019s post but declined to give any further comment at its regular news conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scholz told reporters at a news conference that freedom of opinion \u201calso applies to multibillionaires\u201d and \u201cmeans that you can say things that are incorrect and do not contain good political advice\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Musk, the world\u2019s richest person, previously voiced support for the AfD last year when he attacked the German government\u2019s handling of undocumented immigration. Last month, Musk called for the sacking of Italian judges who had questioned the legality of government measures to prevent irregular immigration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
German lawmakers from across the mainstream parties reacted with outrage to Musk\u2019s comment. \u201cIt is threatening, irritating and unacceptable for a key figure in the future US government to interfere in the German election campaign,\u201d Dennis Radtke, a member of the European Parliament for the centre-right Christian Democratic Union, told the Handelsblatt daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Radtke called Musk a \u201cthreat to democracy in the Western world\u201d, accusing the world\u2019s richest man of turning X, previously called Twitter, into a \u201cdisinformation slingshot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alex Schaefer, a lawmaker from Scholz\u2019s centre-left Social Democrats, said Musk\u2019s post was \u201ccompletely unacceptable\u201d. \u201cWe are very close to the Americans, but now bravery is required towards our friend. We object to interference in our election campaign,\u201d Schaefer told the Tagesspiegel daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Former Finance Minister Christian Lindner from the pro-business Free Democratic Party, said some of Musk\u2019s ideas had \u201cinspired\u201d him but urged the Tesla boss not to \u201crush to conclusions from afar\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhile migration control is crucial for Germany, the AfD stands against freedom, business \u2013 and it\u2019s a far-right extremist party,\u201d the politician posted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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