He supports AfD

Astonishment and outrage at Musk’s new appearance

(Bild: APA/AFP)

US billionaire Elon Musk caused astonishment and consternation with his video appearance at the AfD election campaign kick-off on Saturday: Poland's head of government Donald Tusk criticized the tech mogul's statement that the country should leave German guilt and Nazi crimes behind.

Musk's statements "sounded all too familiar and threatening, (...) especially just a few hours before the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz", Tusk emphasized on the online platform X, which is owned by the billionaire. 

Tusk's posting on X and the reaction of the German Chancellor: 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) agreed with his Polish counterpart. "I can only agree," he commented on Tusk's statement, also on X.

US billionaire raves about "German culture"
Musk had called on the AfD supporters gathered in Halle an der Saale to be "proud" of "being German". "Honestly, there's too much focus on the guilt of the past and we need to move on from that," he added. The tech billionaire also raved about the "German culture", which goes back "thousands of years".

Criticism from Israel: "Insult to the victims"
Clear criticism of these statements also came from Israel. "Remembering and acknowledging the dark past of the country and its people should be at the heart of shaping German society," explained the chairman of the Israeli Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem, Dani Dayan. "Failing to do so is an insult to the victims of National Socialism and a clear danger to Germany's democratic future."

The German ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert, supported this - "just like millions of Germans", as he also wrote on X. "Elon Musk doesn't seem to know our country very well at all," he replied to Dayan's entry. "No one makes children feel guilty for Nazi crimes. We want them to grow up informed and responsible and apply the lessons of Germany's past."

Musk promotes the far-right AfD 
In recent weeks, Musk had repeatedly interfered in the domestic politics of Germany and other European countries with comments on his online platform X and campaigned for the AfD, which is in some cases far-right. Trump had appointed him as a special advisor to his government, with the aim of ensuring drastic cuts in government spending in the USA. At Trump's inauguration last Monday, he attracted attention with a gesture reminiscent of a Hitler salute.