US tech billionaire on Saturday reaffirmed his backing for Germany’s far-right in an This came just days after he had posted on his social network that “only the AfD can save Germany.”
He wrote that the far-right populist party was “the last spark of hope for the country,” which he claimed was teetering on the brink of “economic and cultural collapse,” and that only it could revive the German economy and prevent a loss of identity through a “controlled immigration policy.”
“To those who condemn the AfD as extremist, I say: don’t let the label attached to it put you off,” Musk wrote. “The portrayal of the AfD as right-wing extremist is clearly false, considering that , the party’s leader, has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka! Does that sound like Hitler to you? Please!”
In the article, published in German, Musk also praised the AfD’s approach to regulation, taxes, and market deregulation.
Although it was published as an op-ed by designated Welt editor-in-chief Jan Philipp Burgard, the decision to print it was met with protests by Welt editorial staff and led to the resignation of a senior editor at Welt am Sonntag.
A storm of outrage
, the center-right candidate for chancellor in Germany’s February 23 legislative election, lashed out at Musk, calling the article unprecedented interference that was “intrusive and pretentious.”
The AfD is currently polling at 20% and in second place behind Merz’s conservative alliance of and .
The chairman of the center-left , Lars Klingbeil, accused Musk of wanting to “plunge Germany into chaos” and compared him to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Both want to influence our elections and specifically support the AfD’s enemies of democracy,” Klingbeil said.
The chairman of the DJV journalists’ association, Mika Beuster, warned editorial offices not to allow themselves to be instrumentalized in the run-up to the general election but to handle guest contributions with care.
“German media must not allow themselves to be misused as mouthpieces for autocrats and their friends,” he said.
Press freedom or electioneering?
Can the press in Germany speak out for or against political candidates in the run-up to elections? The answer is yes, it is permitted in Germany, but it tends to be the exception.
Freedom of expression and press freedom are enshrined in the constitution. Article 5 of Germany’s Basic Law reads: “Every person shall have the right freely to express and disseminate his opinions in speech, writing and pictures and to inform himself without hindrance from generally accessible sources. Freedom of the press and freedom of reporting by means of broadcasts and films shall be guaranteed. There shall be no censorship. These rights shall find their limits in the provisions of general laws, in provisions for the protection of young persons, and in the right to personal honor.”
For the first time in 2002, the Financial Times Deutschland endorsed voting for a particular party in a German election: They devoted an entire page marked as a commentary to explaining to their readers why they should vote for the CDU, adding a second page explaining how they came to their decision.
The Financial Times Deutschland, which folded in 2012, was an offspring of the Financial Times London, which has a tradition of publishing endorsements, like most newspapers in the United States and the UK.
In Germany, public broadcasters are obliged to observe the principles of objectivity, impartiality and diversity of opinion. However, this does not exclude the possibility of individuals expressing opinions in journalistic commentaries that could also be understood as election recommendations.
Who got Musk’s commentary into Welt?
It is still unclear exactly how Musk’s text ended up in the conservative Welt newspaper, which is owned by the Springer publishing group. Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner has expressed admiration for Musk in the past, and he is said to have personal contact with the billionaire.
Döpfner has repeatedly made headlines when internal chat messages and emails he sent to his confidants became public, showing him lambasting the measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.
Döpfner also attempted to influence the reporting of the Bild newspaper in favor of the neoliberal ahead of the last federal election in 2021. “Our last hope is the FDP,” and only if the Liberals finished strong could “the green-red disaster be avoided,” Döpfner reportedly wrote, warning of a SPD-Green coalition government.
More recently, Döpfner criticized journalism in Germany, saying that “elitist quality media” were biased towards the AfD, which suggests the decision to publish Musk’s op-ed could be seen as an attempt to normalize right-wing populist thinking in Germany.
The daily newspaper Welt was founded in post-war West Germany in the British occupation zone in April 1946. Seven years later, the publisher Axel Springer took over the paper. Today, the Springer publishing group is active in more than 40 countries and owns the Politico news sites. Springer exerts great influence on the political debate in Germany, particularly with its tabloid Bild — which is the newspaper most criticized by the German Press Council.
What’s in it for Elon Musk?
The richest man in the world, first and foremost, appears to have his own economic interests in mind. In his op-ed, Musk praises the AfD for its plans to “reduce government overregulation, lower taxes and deregulate the market.” A outside Berlin, is the US manufacturer’s first electric car factory in Europe and would stand to profit from such changes.
But Musk, with his 200 million online followers worldwide, is seen as driving a global political agenda to promote right-wing forces. He allegedly promised British right-wing populist Nigel Farage’s party donations of €95 million in support.
He also contributed at least $250 million to US President-elect Donald Trump’s election campaign and has since been named co-head of a department designed to cut government spending and restructure the federal government with no clear oversight from elected lawmakers.
In Germany, Musk’s support for the AfD could act as a door opener for far-right forces by increasing their visibility and legitimizing their narrative.
This article was originally written in German.
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