Elon Musk has backed Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in a post on X.
As the X owner delves deeper into the world of politics by the day, he tweeted last night saying “Only the AfD can save Germany.”
Musk was quote tweeting a post and video from a young German YouTuber with 300,000 followers who had criticized Friedrich Merz, the man who could be the next chancellor of Germany with its parliament dissolved this week following a no confidence vote. Her post said Merz is “horrified by the idea that Germany should follow Elon Musk’s and [Argentina President] Javier Milei’s example,” adding: “He staunchly rejects a pro-freedom approach and refuses any discussion with the AfD.”
The AfD is a far-right and populist German party that has steadily been making electoral gains over the past few years, causing alarm both within Germany and internationally. The party is bound together by opposition to immigration and anti-Islam sentiment, and has been classified as a “suspected extremist party” by the German judiciary. It is expected to make gains at the next election.
Since being handed ownership of Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Musk has been more vocal in politics. Earlier this week, Nigel Farage, the leader of the right-wing Reform UK party, posted a photo with Musk at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
In the U.S., Musk and Trump were vehemently opposed to a finance bill that got rejected earlier this week, which Musk had described as “criminal” and said any lawmaker “who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years.”
An amended version of that bill, which Trump backed, was rejected by the U.S. House of Representatives last night. This could lead to a government shutdown if a deal can’t be struck over the next 24 hours. The replacement bill, approved by the next POTUS, would have tied government funding to a two-year suspension of the federal debt limit, which determines how much the government can borrow to pay its bills.