An uproar in its press offices was caused by the online publication of an opinion piece in favor of the “Alternative for Germany” (), a few weeks before . In fact, in Welt am Sonntag, where the article in question by the controversial tycoon was published, which trumpets – with or without reason – his close relationship with the elected president, the head of the opinion section resigned in protest.
Musk, who believes he has a right to weigh in on German political matters because of the “significant investments” he has made in Germany, expands in the online article on his X post last week, in which he argued that “only the AfD can save Germany”.
The traditional political parties in Germany have utterly failed the people.
🇩🇪 AfD is the only hope for Germany 🇩🇪
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk)
“The claim that the AfD is a far-right extremist force is clearly false, given that Alice Weidel, the leader of the party, has a same-sex relationship from Sri Lanka! Does this remind you of Hitler? Come now!” Musk writes in Welt am Sonntag.
Shortly after the article was published, opinion section editor Eva Marie Kogel wrote to X that she was resigning.
I always enjoyed heading the opinion department at WELT and WAMS. Today a text by Elon Musk appeared in Welt am Sonntag. Yesterday I submitted my resignation after printing.
— Eva Marie Kogel (@emkogel)
“Democracy and journalism thrive in the context of freedom of expression. This includes dealing with polarizing views and their journalistic management,” director Jan Philipp Burgard and publisher Ulf Poschardt of the Axel Springer group newspaper, who take over on Jan. 1, told Reuters, citing the 340 comments Elon’s article garnered. Mask a few hours after it was published.
“Musk’s diagnosis is correct, but his therapeutic approach that only the AfD can save Germany is fatally wrong,” answered Jan Philipp Burgard under the article, reducing the richest man on the planet to a legitimate interlocutor and referring to position of the “Alternative for Germany” in favor of the country’s exit from the European Union and in favor of rapprochement with Russia and the appeasement of China.
