{"id":2382349,"date":"2024-12-20T14:31:53","date_gmt":"2024-12-20T19:31:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/musk-endorses-germanys-right-wing-afd-party\/"},"modified":"2024-12-20T14:33:39","modified_gmt":"2024-12-20T19:33:39","slug":"musk-endorses-germanys-right-wing-afd-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/musk-endorses-germanys-right-wing-afd-party\/","title":{"rendered":"Musk endorses Germany&#8217;s right-wing AfD party"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmusk-endorses-germanys-right-wing-afd-party%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2382349&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Elon Musk\u200c has entered international politics by endorsing Germany&#8217;s right-wing Alternative f\u00fcr Deutschland (AfD) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/arizona-school-board-hosts-retirement-party-for-superintendent-though-senior-prom-remains-canceled\/\" title=\"Arizona School Board Hosts Retirement Party For Superintendent, Though Senior Prom Remains Canceled\">party ahead<\/a> of the country&#8217;s elections scheduled \u200dfor \u200dFebruary 2025. The AfD, \u2063recognized for its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hungarian-prime-minister-warns-the-west-against-a-communist-takeover\/\" title=\"Hungarian Prime Minister Warns the West Against a Communist Takeover\">anti-immigration stance<\/a>, has gained popularity, securing its first electoral victory in the previously communist state of Thuringia in September 2024.Musk expressed his support on Twitter, stating, &#8220;Only the AfD can save Germany.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He has previously shown curiosity about the party, questioning why it is viewed negatively and asserting that its policies \u200bdo\u200c not seem extremist. AfD\u200b spokeswoman Alice Weidel welcomed Musk&#8217;s endorsement, criticizing former Chancellor Angela Merkel&#8217;s leadership and labeling the European Union as a &#8220;Soviet European Union.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>While the endorsement was praised by\u200c the\u2062 AfD\u200c and similar groups, it has drawn backlash from established German political parties,\u2064 highlighting the polarized nature of \u200cpolitical discourse in\u2063 the country.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Musk wades into international politics with endorsement of Germany&rsquo;s right-wing AfD party<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1916554\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Tesla CEO <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/elon-musk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Elon Musk\">Elon Musk<\/a> waded into international politics, endorsing the right-wing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/3140562\/a-german-far-right-party-leads-exit-polls\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Alternative fur Deutschland\">Alternative fur Deutschland<\/a> party ahead of <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/germany\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Germany<\/a>&lsquo;s February 2025 elections.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>AfD is broadly considered a right-wing or far-right party. It is mainly characterized by its anti-immigration stance, which has won laudits among Germans disillusioned with the country&rsquo;s immigration system. It has surged in the polls this year, winning its first election in September in the formerly communist state of Thuringia.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Alice Weidel, federal spokeswoman of the Alternative for Germany party attends the presentation of her candidacy for chancellor in the 2025 federal elections on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Berlin. (Carsten Koall\/dpa via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Ahead of Germany&rsquo;s snap elections in February, triggered by the collapse of the ruling Social Democratic Party, Musk threw his support behind the resurgent party.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Only the AfD can save Germany,&rdquo; Musk said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Only the AfD can save Germany <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Afu0ea1Fvt\">https:\/\/t.co\/Afu0ea1Fvt<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/elonmusk\/status\/1869986946031988780?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 20, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Musk had flirted with the party previously, expressing confusion in June as to why it was considered controversial.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Why is there such a negative reaction from some about AfD? They keep saying &lsquo;far right&rsquo;, but the policies of AfD that I&rsquo;ve read about don&rsquo;t sound extremist,&rdquo; he <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/elonmusk\/status\/1799869666946437156\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"said\">said<\/a>. &ldquo;Maybe I&rsquo;m missing something.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>AfD spokeswoman Alice Weidel welcomed Musk&rsquo;s support, directing him to an interview she did with <em>Bloomberg<\/em>. In it, she accused &ldquo;socialist Merkel&rdquo; of ruining Germany and referred to the European Union as the &ldquo;Soviet European Union.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Yes! You are perfectly right, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/elonmusk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@elonmusk<\/a>! Please also have a look into my interview on president Trump, how socialist Merkel ruined our country, how the Soviet European Union destroys the countries economic backbone and malfunctioning Germany!<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/PwPgqJgB8w\">https:\/\/t.co\/PwPgqJgB8w<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/BdCQe3eWwk\">https:\/\/t.co\/BdCQe3eWwk<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Alice Weidel (@Alice_Weidel) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Alice_Weidel\/status\/1870005427817287940?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 20, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>She followed up with a video message expressing support for Musk and President-elect Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Dear <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/elonmusk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">@elonmusk<\/a>, Thank you so much for your note,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;The Alternative for Germany is indeed the one and only alternative for our country; our very last option. I wish you and President Donald <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/Trump?src=hashtag_click\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">#Trump<\/a> all the best for the upcoming tenure! And also, I wish you and all the American people Merry <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/Christmas?src=hashtag_click\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">#Christmas<\/a> and a Happy New Year.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Dear <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/elonmusk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@elonmusk<\/a>,<br \/>Thank you so much for your note. The Alternative for Germany is indeed the one and only alternative for our country; our very last option. I wish you and President Donald <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Trump?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Trump<\/a> all the best for the upcoming tenure! And also, I wish you and all the American people&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/iVBfPDoRfp\">pic.twitter.com\/iVBfPDoRfp<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Alice Weidel (@Alice_Weidel) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Alice_Weidel\/status\/1870090980310819248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 20, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Though welcomed by the AfD and other right<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/right-wing-coalition-forms-new-govt-in-italy\/\" title=\"Right-wing coalition forms new govt. in Italy\">-wing parties<\/a>, establishment German parties expressed their displeasure with Musk&rsquo;s endorsement.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We have freedom of opinion &mdash; it also goes for multibillionaires, but freedom of opinion also means that you can say things that aren&rsquo;t right and don&rsquo;t contain good political advice,&rdquo; German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said. &ldquo;I say emphatically that the democratic parties in Germany all see it differently.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Other establishment party figures were more overt.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It is threatening, irritating, and unacceptable for a key figure in the future U.S. government to interfere in the German election campaign,&rdquo; Dennis Radtke, a European Parliament member of the center-right Christian Democratic Union, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.barrons.com\/news\/anger-in-germany-after-musk-backs-far-right-3baa419a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"reported\">told<\/a> <em>Handelsblatt<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Radtke, who has called X a &ldquo;disinformation slingshot,&rdquo; said Musk is a &ldquo;threat to democracy in the Western world.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The AfD has been growing in popularity since former Chancellor Angela Merkel decided to take in a large number of mostly Syrian refugees in 2015. Though the party has featured prominently in polls since 2015, it has always been locked out of the government due to an agreement among all the major parties that they would not work with the AfD, viewing it as too extreme.<\/p>\n<p>That could change in February, as the party has taken the second spot in polling &mdash; above the ruling SPD Party. Another surging party, the eclectic left-wing populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, or BSW, has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tagesschau.de\/inland\/innenpolitik\/wagenknecht-umgang-afd-100.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"signaled\">signaled<\/a> that it may be willing to work with the AfD in a coalition.<\/p>\n<p>Even if the other parties ruled out a governing coalition with the AfD, it would still be able to serve as a spoiler and disrupter in Parliament if it received a significant enough share of the vote.<\/p>\n<p>The AfD&rsquo;s shock September victory in Thuringia sent shockwaves through the German political scene, with some analysts declaring it the first victory for a far-right party since the creation of the modern German state. <\/p>\n<p>The exact label of the AfD Party is itself a source of controversy. Left-wing critics openly accuse it of being a neo-Nazi group. <em>Der Spiegel<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spiegel.de\/spiegel\/print\/index-2024-34.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"called\">called<\/a> the victorious Thuringia AfD leader Bj&ouml;rn H&ouml;cke a &ldquo;Clandestine Hitler.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The party has consistently rejected the far-right label, with its leaders <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2024\/11\/6\/germanys-far-right-afd-to-expel-members-over-links-to-militant-groups\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"saying\">saying<\/a> the party stands for &ldquo;the liberal democratic order and has nothing to do with this suspected neo-Nazi grouping.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Other analysts take a more nuanced view, painting the party as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/articles\/how-populist-is-the-afd\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"coalition\">coalition<\/a> of different broadly right<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">-wing ideological factions<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1916554\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1916554\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Musk endorses Germany&#8217;s right-wing AfD party ahead of elections<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2653,"featured_media":2382350,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/AFD.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[47181,13348,3946,4250,5894],"class_list":["post-2382349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-afd","tag-endorsement","tag-germany","tag-musk","tag-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/AFD.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2382349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2653"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2382349"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2382349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2382353,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2382349\/revisions\/2382353"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2382350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2382349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2382349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2382349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}