Germany’s leader says Musk’s support for European far-right is ‘completely unacceptable’

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Friday that Elon Musk’s support for the far-right in Europe is “completely unacceptable,” adding to his previous criticism of Musk’s interventions in the German election campaign.

Musk has said over the past month that only the far-right party Alternative for Germany, or AfD, can “save Germany.” Last week, the tech billionaire livestreamed on his social media platform X a chat with Alice Weidel, the party’s candidate for chancellor in Germany’s Feb. 23 election, amplifying its message ahead of the vote.

His interest in Germany and politics elsewhere in Europe, after he poured money and energy into helping Donald Trump win the U.S. election, has set off alarm bells among politicians across the continent. The Tesla and SpaceX chief executive also has demanded the release of jailed U.K. anti-Islam extremist Tommy Robinson and called British Prime Minister Keir Starmer ‘s government tyrannical, claiming Starmer should be in prison.

Scholz has said it’s important to “stay cool” over personal attacks, but that Germany’s way forward “will not be decided by the owners of social media channels” but by German voters.

Not PARSE.LY: Germany

Starmer visits Auschwitz and vows to fight the antisemitism he sees growing in the UK

 

Voice of America is required by law to report the news accurately. Could Donald Trump change that?

 

UN says it’s ready to ramp up delivery of desperately needed aid to Gaza

 

Asked on Friday about Musk’s interventions, he said it’s important to “criticize the right thing.”

“What we must criticize is not that a billionaire, or a billionaire from other countries in a global world, expresses his opinion — but what he says,” Scholz said at a news conference. “He supports the extreme right throughout Europe, in Britain, in Germany, in many, many other countries, and that is something that is completely unacceptable.”

“This endangers the democratic development of Europe, it endangers our community, and that must be criticized,” Scholz said.

Polls show AfD in second place ahead of the election, with support of about 20%, but Weidel has no realistic chance of becoming chancellor because other parties refuse to work with the party.

Center-right opposition leader Friedrich Merz also has criticized Musk’s endorsement of AfD. Merz’s Union bloc leads polls and he is the favorite to become Germany’s next leader.