Berlin (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Elon Musk supports Germany’s AfD in article, causing editor’s resignation; snap election set after Scholz’s coalition collapse.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk supported Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) in a guest opinion article for Germany’s Welt am Sonntag newspaper issued online on 28 Dec 2024 that initiated the commentary editor to quit in protest. In the article, published in German by the flagship paper of the Axel Springer media company, Musk raised on his post on social media platform X last week arguing that “only the AfD can save Germany.”
Only AfD can save Germany https://t.co/8TNZVEZGh5
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 22, 2024
“The portrayal of the AfD as right-wing extremist is clearly false, assuming that Alice Weidel, the party’s leader, has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka! Does that sound like Hitler to you? Please!” Musk stated in the article.
Momentarily after the article was published online, the editor of the opinion section, Eva Marie Kogel, noted on X that she had filed her resignation, with a link to the article.
Ich habe immer gerne das Meinungsressort von WELT und WAMS geleitet. Heute ist in der Welt am Sonntag ein Text von Elon Musk erschienen. Ich habe gestern nach Andruck meine Kündigung eingereicht. https://t.co/Ss1FNGiwAL
— Eva Marie Kogel (@emkogel) December 28, 2024
Germany is to have a crucial snap election set for February 23, 2025, after Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition government collapsed. On December 27, 2024, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier approved Scholz’s request to dissolve parliament to pave the way for the snap election.
The ruling coalition dubbed the “traffic light” coalition, had consisted of Scholz’s SPD, FDP, and Greens. The latter ended in tatters in November 2024, in the dispute over budget matters. Budget disputes had resulted in schisms within the ruling parties, leading Scholz to fail his confidence vote on December 16; this prompted a demand for fresh elections.
It was for the first time that the party AfD had chosen Alice Weidel as the chancellor candidate. The step marks an important moment in the party’s political strategy, for it demonstrates the ambition to be viewed as more than a marginal force in the election.
