Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a donor and advisor to President-elect Donald Trump, is now seeking to influence the German election, posting his endorsement on X for the country's far-right Alternative for Germany party.
In a post on Thursday night, Musk wrote: “Only the AfD can save Germany.”
Musk, who has more than 200 million followers on his site, made the comment while sharing a post from far-right influencer Naomi Seibt, who claimed that “presumptive next German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) is horrified by the idea.” Germany should follow the example of Elon Musk and Javier Miley,” he said, referring to the President of Argentina.
Seibt has a history of promoting white nationalist ideology, The Guardian previously reported, and has denied the validity of the scientific consensus on climate change, namely that it is driven by fossil fuel emissions.
In a post on X, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) called Musk “an out-of-touch billionaire running the incoming Trump administration” who “enthusiastically supports Germany’s neo-Nazi party.”
“The AfD’s mission is to rehabilitate the image of the Nazi movement,” Murphy wrote. He added that one party leader had a license plate that represented “an explicit tribute to Hitler,” and another “described Judaism as the ‘internal enemy’ in Germany.”
Musk and Tesla's investor relations teams did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a center-left Social Democrat, on Friday rejected Musk's claims that only the far-right party could “save Germany.”
Under Schulz's leadership, Germany's left-wing coalition collapsed in November, and the AfD is currently in second place ahead of the February elections. Across Germany, where the AfD placed highly in state elections, other parties generally refused to form coalitions with it.
According to the Pew Research Center, “The AfD party campaigned against arms shipments to Ukraine and called for an end to sanctions on Russia,” a view shared by Musk.
Far-right parties have also made gains in the Netherlands, Austria, Finland and elsewhere. Many cheered the election of Trump, which Musk helped fund with $277 million in contributions to the campaign and related Republican causes.
Tesla stock has risen about 75% since Trump's victory, surpassing its all-time high since 2021 last week.
The AfD has reportedly criticized Tesla and its factory outside Berlin. The party claimed that many of the thousands of Tesla workers there commute from Poland or Berlin, limiting the economic benefits to the local community in Brandenburg.
The AfD generally views electric cars as part of an ideological climate movement, which is not in favor of Germany's auto industry.
Europe has been a tough market for Tesla this year. According to data from the Association of European Automobile Manufacturers, Tesla vehicle sales fell 40.9% in November, outpacing the overall 9.5% decline in sales of battery electric vehicles.
Elsewhere in Ljubri, Musk endorsed right-wing Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and expressed his support for the UK's Nigel Farage, a populist politician and UK reform leader. In South America, Musk supported and had a friendship with Argentine President Miley, a self-described anarcho-capitalist.
In Magdeburg, Germany, on Friday, a driver drove his car into crowds of people at a Christmas market, killing and wounding dozens.
In response to an X post showing Chancellor Schulz at a press conference after the incident, Musk wrote: “Schulz should resign immediately. You incompetent idiot.”
Watch: Musk's early influence on government