Musk’s support for far-right AfD causes a flutter

American billionaire Elon Musk has made himself into a political person, perhaps an ambition he has nursed for long. Instead of remaining on the margins, he has moved centre stage.

He had openly supported President-elect Donald Trump’s candidacy this year and contributed to the campaign. Tycoons and other rich people contributing money to presidential campaign funds is not unusual. But many of them end their engagement with politics at that point.

Musk has hung around and he has been rewarded by Trump by appointing him and another tycoon-turned-politician Vivek Ramaswamy to head the government efficiency wing, a creation of Trump. What has come as a bit of shocker now is Musk’s declared support for Germany’s far-right AfD or Alternative Germany in the forthcoming general election in February.

Even conservatives and right-wingers in politics in Germany refuse to deal with the party because of its extremist views on migration. Musk, like Trump, is anti-immigration. So, it can be said that his support for AfD should not come as a surprise.

The tipping point would be if Musk were to use his social media platform, X, to influence public opinion in Germany in favour of AfD. But then he can argue that he would only be reflecting public opinion in Germany if supporters of AfD were to use X to express their opinion. This makes X an active media player in German politics.

And Musk is not shy of playing the role as well. Musk wrote on X: “Only AfD can save Germany.” That is quite a resounding endorsement of the party that is shunned by politicians of all hues in Germany.

That is why, the response of outgoing Social Democrat Chancellor Olaf Sholz hit the right note of calm. He said that Musk had the right to express his opinion because billionaires too have the freedom of speech like anyone else, and that “means that you can say things that are incorrect and do not contain good political advice.” Former finance minister Christian Lindner, who belongs to the pro-business Free Democratic Party, confessed that he was inspired by some of Musk’s ideas but cautioned the American tycoon not to judge things and rush to conclusions from afar.

There were strong negative reactions as well. A Christian Democrat Union and member of European Parliament, Dennis Radtke, fumed, “It is threatening, irritating and unacceptable for a key figure in the future US government to interfere in the German election campaign.” He described Musk as a “threat to democracy in the Western world.”

Alex Schaefer, a lawmaker from Scholz’s Social Democrats, said Musk’s post on X was “totally unacceptable...We object to interference in our campaign.”

The question that arises in the context of Musk’s statement endorsing AfD is that in a globalised world, every national election is watched with interest across the world. Journalists in print, television radio, and now social media platforms, write about it and comment about it. It would be difficult to stop the world media from reporting on elections in any country.

Musk can say that he had expressed his opinion because X is a media portal he owns. Even if he did not, and there was a time when he was in two minds whether he should buy it or not but the courts said that he cannot pull out of the initial commitment, he could have his say.

The point of interest is whether Musk’s views have any influence on the German voter. The AfD had gained ground in Germany on its own and it does not owe its place in the German political arena to Musk. But the problem would arise if Musk chose to put money where his mouth is, and contribute to AfD’s party fund. That is a red line he should not cross.