Elon Musk endorses far-right German political party, wading deeper into global politics
CNN
Musk, the billionaire Trump ally who is playing a public role in the incoming administration, posted in support Friday of Alternative for Germany, or AfD, after the German government collapsed this week.
Elon Musk is wading into more than just American politics, throwing his support behind a far-right German political party. Musk, the billionaire Trump ally who is playing a public role in the incoming administration, posted in support Friday of Alternative for Germany, or AfD, after the German government collapsed this week. “Only the AfD can save Germany,” Musk wrote Friday while re-posting a video from far-right political activist Naomi Seibt. The AfD, which has recently seen its popularity swell, has touted populist and anti-immigrant “Germany first” positions. But the party has also been accused of resurrecting Nazi-era ideology and slogans. In May, a judge ruled that Germany’s domestic intelligence agency could continue to keep the the AfD under surveillance for the alleged threat it poses to German democracy, rejecting a challenge by the party. Its youth arm, the Young Alternative (JA), has been designated by German authorities as a “confirmed extremist” organization. The party’s lead candidate in the eastern German state of Thuringia, Björn Höcke, was convicted earlier this year after breaking German laws against uttering Nazi slogans in public. But the party has seen growing support. AfD recently became the first far-right party to win a state election in Germany since the Nazi era, though all of the country’s mainstream political parties have said they will not sit with them in a coalition, which will be necessary to form enough seats for a ruling government.
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