American billionaire Elon Musk endorsed the German far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in an article for the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, published online on Saturday. This prompted the resignation of the columnist in protest.
In the article, Musk elaborated on his Platform X post from the previous week, in which he stated that “only the AfD can save Germany.” He argued that labeling the AfD as far-right was “patently false,” citing party leader Alice Weidel’s same-sex partner from Sri Lanka as evidence, asking, “Does that sound like Hitler to you? Please!”
In 2021, Germany’s domestic intelligence agency classified the AfD as an extremist party at the national level.
Shortly after the article was published online, columnist Eva Marie Kogel announced her resignation on X.
“Democracy and journalism thrive on freedom of expression. This includes dealing with different points of view and their journalistic classification,” stated the paper’s editor-in-chief, Jan Philipp Burghardt, and Ulf Poschart, who will take over as publisher on January 1, in comments to Reuters.
Musk has defended his right to influence German politics, citing his “significant investments” in the country. He has also expressed support for the AfD ahead of the February 23 parliamentary election, which comes after the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition government.
The AfD currently ranks second in the polls and could prevent a center-right or center-left party from securing a majority. However, Germany’s main parties have pledged not to cooperate with the AfD at the national level.
