Without mentioning Elon Musk, the social democrat asked Germans, this Tuesday (31), to “not let each other fool themselves”
JOSÉ HENRIQUE MARIANTE – German Prime Minister Olaf Scholz stated in a TV address that “social media owners” will not decide the election in Germany.
Without mentioning Elon Musk, who adopted the local far-right acronym, the social democrat asked Germans, this Tuesday (31), “not to let each other fool themselves”.
Last weekend, the billionaire published an opinion article in Die Welt, one of the most important newspapers in the country, declaring that only the AfD would be able to take Germany off the “path of mediocrity”.
Previously, in posts on X, which he bought in 2022 and turned into a lawless land for his digital proselytism, he had already written that “only the AfD can save Germany”; days earlier, he called Scholz an “incompetent idiot.”
The publication of Musk’s text generated a strong reaction from the media and the German political universe. The businessman gaining space in a press vehicle was considered by the majority to be political propaganda.
The editor of Opinião do Welt, a conservative newspaper, whose CEO is a friend of Musk, resigned shortly after the controversial publication.
Several politicians criticized the publication of the article and its content. Friedrich Merz, Scholz’s main opponent and, according to polls, the future prime minister, declared in an interview that he did not remember “in the history of Western democracies such interference in the campaign of a friendly country”.
A spokeswoman for the federal government, on Monday (30), stated that Musk’s opinions were an interference in German affairs and was also ironic when saying that “freedom of expression also includes nonsense”.
The businessman likes to describe himself as an “absolutist” of freedom of expression, an argument he uses to justify the lack of content moderation on X.
In his text, he justified that he should participate in the public debate because he had made “significant investments” in the country. The main one is a Tesla factory, on the outskirts of Berlin, which is suffering from protests by environmentalists for being located in a forested area. One of the parties that most opposed the project was precisely the AfD.
Musk, who poured around US$250 million into Donald Trump’s campaign in the US and works with the ease of an elected official in assembling his government team, has been using X to boost right-wing and far-right populists in different parts of the world .
In Brazil, he clashed with the Minister of the Federal Supreme Court, Alexandre de Moraes, who took X off the air for almost two months in the country.
Elections for the German Parliament are scheduled for February 23. They were brought forward after the government coalition created by Scholz three years ago collapsed due to internal disagreements and unpopularity.
The country is experiencing an economic crisis, an outdated and idle industrial park and squeezed by a trade war with China and the threat of increased tariffs from the second Trump administration.
In addition to having members investigated for neo-Nazism and xenophobia, the AfD, Alternative for Germany, draws attention for its economic prescriptions. The party defends the country’s exit from the European Union and the euro zone, something inconceivable for the continent’s largest economy.
Still, it occupies second place in opinion polls, ahead of Scholz’s SPD, with populist offers such as an end to immigration, countless environmental requirements and excessive regulation.
Despite the chance of obtaining a historic bench, the AfD must be passed over in the formation of government. The other parties refuse to form a coalition with the party due to their extreme positions.
