Elon Musk instructed a gathering of the hard-right Different for Germany celebration this weekend that the nation has “an excessive amount of of a give attention to previous guilt,” an obvious effort to wipe away the lengthy shadow of the Nazis that has influenced generations of Germans to quarantine excessive political events from public life.
“It’s good to be happy with German tradition, German values, and to not lose that in some kind of multiculturalism that dilutes all the pieces” Mr. Musk mentioned in a brief video that was broadcast to hundreds of celebration members within the japanese metropolis of Halle.
“We don’t need all the pieces to be the identical in every single place the place it’s only one massive kind of soup,” Mr. Musk mentioned. “You realize, we wish to have one thing the place it’s, you go to completely different international locations and also you expertise a distinct tradition and it’s distinctive and particular and good and — that the German authorities takes actions to guard its residents and makes certain that it seeks the well being and well-being of the German individuals.”
Mr. Musk’s feedback got here on Saturday, two days earlier than official ceremonies in Poland commemorating the eightieth anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz focus camp, one of the important days of memorial on the German calendar. His critics in Germany sharply criticized his phrases and his timing.
“The passion of the native South African Elon Musk for German right-wing radicals, for German pleasure, German individuals and German hand indicators is outstanding,” the journalist Mathieu von Rohr wrote sarcastically in Spiegel, one among Germany’s most essential newsmagazines.
Mr. Musk himself just lately stirred controversy in Germany and elsewhere by giving what was extensively interpreted as a Nazi salute to a rally of supporters after Mr. Trump’s inauguration.
The billionaire, an adviser to President Trump, endorsed the so-called AfD celebration in a put up on his social media platform X late final yr, later citing its stance on migration, vitality coverage and different points. He has ramped up his assist since, whereas trying to painting the celebration and its management as cheap.
In doing so, he has brushed apart years of flirtations with Naziism and different actions by AfD members which have led Germany’s mainstream political events to unite in opposition to working with the group.
German intelligence companies have formally categorized elements of the AfD as extremists. A celebration chief was convicted final yr of utilizing banned Nazi language. Members of the celebration, together with a former member of the federal parliament, have been implicated in a number of plots to overthrow the German authorities.
Mr. Musk, although, has praised the AfD repeatedly. He hosted its candidate for chancellor, Alice Weidel, for a pleasant interview this month on X. He addressed a celebration convention over the weekend by video hyperlink, saying the celebration had the assist of the “Trump administration.”
He went on to invoke Germany’s historical past relationship again to the Roman Empire, citing Julius Caesar’s reward for the Germanic warriors he encountered in battle. He known as the AfD’s proposals “frequent sense” and accused the present German authorities of oppressing free speech and dissent. He mentioned the world wanted much less centralized governance, together with that from the European Union in Brussels, and stronger governance from particular person international locations.
“The destiny of the world, I feel rests upon this election in Germany,” Mr. Musk mentioned. “It’s extraordinarily elementary.”
Regardless of Mr. Musk’s endorsement, the AfD has not gained a lot floor in opinion polls forward of the Feb. 23 parliamentary election. Since Mr. Musk backed the celebration in a December put up, the proportion of voters who say they may vote for the celebration has solely elevated by one level, to 21 p.c.
Nonetheless, the AfD at the moment sits in second place, behind the primary opposition celebration, the Christian Democrats, however forward of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats.
Late in 2023, earlier than the hard-right celebration was shook by quite a lot of scandals, together with the authorized convictions of a regional chief for utilizing banned Nazi phrases, the celebration was polling at 23 p.c.
All different events in parliament have vowed to not embrace the AfD within the formation of a brand new authorities after the election.
Latest polling exhibits that three-quarters of Germans see Mr. Musk’s makes an attempt to affect German elections as “unacceptable.” The identical ballot discovered that 63 p.c of respondents thought Mr. Musk didn’t have understanding of German politics.
