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Elon Musk praised the “very rational” co-leader of the far-right party Alternative for Germany, who joined the tech billionaire in a debate about Adolf Hitler, Donald Trump and the existence of aliens. .
In the latest attempt by the world’s richest man to influence European politics, Musk hosted a conversation with Alice Weidell on his social media platform “strongly encourages” German citizens to support the AfD.
He said: “I think Alice Weidel is a very reasonable person, and I hope people can see that from just this conversation. . . . Nothing outrageous is being proposed, it’s just common sense. ”
At its peak, about 200,000 people watched a 75-minute livestream of Musk’s X show with Weidel, which was falsely advertised as a “conversation with Germany’s leading candidates.”
The AfD, which is largely classified as a right-wing extremist group by Germany’s domestic intelligence service, is on track to finish second in the elections in Europe’s largest country, with opinion polls polling it at about 19 percent. Achieve the highest score in the national poll.
However, a reputable pollster predicts that Friedrich Merz and his centre-right Christian Democrats will lead with around 31%.
Weidel, the AfD’s prime ministerial candidate, repeatedly thanked Musk for giving him the opportunity to speak without being “interrupted or negatively framed,” but said the situation was “absolutely It’s new,” she said.
She sought to portray her party as “conservative liberals” who call for mass deportations of people with immigrant backgrounds.
Mr Musk, who has drawn criticism from European leaders for meddling in British as well as German politics, invited Mr Weidel to refute comparisons between his party and the Nazis.
This sparked a discussion in which both host and guest argued that Hitler was not a right-winger, but rather a socialist.
This claim is popular among far-right groups, but historians reject it. Historians say the German fascist movement, which oversaw the murder of six million Jews as well as scores of Roma, disabled people, homosexuals and communists, had little to do with socialism. It calls itself the National Socialist German Workers’ Party.
Flamemonger Björn Höcke, one of the AfD’s most prominent politicians, was found guilty and fined for using banned Nazi slogans.
Alice Weidel poses for a photo before a live discussion on X with Elon Musk at her office in Berlin on Thursday © POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Musk’s support for a far-right party represents an unprecedented intervention in the German election campaign by a key confidant of US President-elect Donald Trump.
This has deeply upset Germany’s mainstream political parties, and also shows that X and its owners are breaking EU digital rules by meddling in politics and amplifying accounts that spread disinformation and extremist views. This sparked a new debate in Brussels.
The platform had around 4 million monthly active users in Germany in December, according to data from digital market intelligence firm Similarweb.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who Musk described as an “incompetent idiot”, stressed the need to “remain calm” and “feed the trolls” in response to Tesla CEO’s intervention. emphasized.
But Mertz called Musk’s recent article outlining his support for the far right an unprecedented “case of interference in the election activities of a friendly country.”
The conversation between Mr. Musk and Mr. Weidell ranged from a discussion of core AfD themes such as immigration, taxation, and the virtues of nuclear power to an appeal to the politician-turned-serial entrepreneur to explain his views on the Middle East conflict, Mars, and global warming. gradually changed to. Do you believe in the existence of aliens and God?
Mr Weidel also said he felt “physical pain” at the way Mr Trump was treated by German media and politicians during the US presidential campaign and expressed hope that Mr Trump would end the conflict in Ukraine. .
She also praised Musk’s “beautiful words” and “vision.”
Additional reporting by Clara Murray and Javier Espinoza
