Billionaire Trump adviser said his ‘significant investments’ in the country justify his wading into German politics

The tech entrepreneur and close adviser to Donald Trump Elon Musk has taken a stunning new public step in his support for the far-right German political party Alternative for Germany (AfD), publishing a supportive guest opinion piece for the country’s Welt am Sonntag newspaper that has prompted the commentary editor to resign in protest.

The commentary piece in German was launched online on Saturday ahead of being published on Sunday in the flagship paper of the Axel Springer media group, which also owns the US politics news site Politico.

Musk uses populist and personal language to try to deny AfD’s extremist bent and the piece expands on his post on the social media platform X that he owns, on which he last week claimed that “only the AfD can save Germany”.

  • nexusband@lemmy.worldEnglish
    23·
    3 days ago

    Good luck on him trying that. I still strongly believe that things are very different here…

    • etuomaala@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      3·
      3 days ago

      Well, yeah, things are different in Germany than in the States. For one thing, there’s proportional representation.

      But, and I know this is unlikely, this time could be different. Trump actually got the popular vote. Not by much, but he did get it. It is physically possible for it to happen in Germany, and Europe is not ready for it.

      Basically, people would be voting for Musk lol. I mean haven’t you heard that he is the genius who designed all of spaceX’s rockets and all of tesla’s cars and factories? Who wouldn’t want somebody like that running their government? (with tremendous amounts of sarcasm)

      I mean I like to think that Europeans are less gullible than Americans. IDK, are they less gullible than Americans? 'Cause if not, then yeah, it could happen. Barely.

    • crapwittyname@lemm.eeEnglish
      52·
      3 days ago

      Yes, you won’t get another iteration of the Nazi party directly. Like there won’t be swastikas and eagles and Jew-hatred. But you could absolutely get fascism. Germany supported the genocide in Israel, which is apparently a-ok because it’s not Jews who are suffering. As long as you have an Other to hate and fear, and enough uneducated/brainwashed people to rally behind you, you can fash it up. Chaplin moustache notwithstanding.