In World am Sonntagweekend edition of the daily Die Welt, published on December 28, an article by Elon Musk in support of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party led to the resignation of an editor-in-chief of the newspaper.
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A column from Elon Musk published Saturday December 28 by World am Sonntagin which the American billionaire reaffirms and justifies his support for the German far-right party AfD, led to the resignation of an editor-in-chief of the conservative newspaper.
“ Today, a text from Elon Musk appeared in the World am Sonntag. Yesterday I submitted my resignation after printing », indicated Eva Marie Kogel, responsible for editorial content, on X, the social network owned by Elon Musk.
Elon Musk reaffirms in this column that “ the Alternative for Germany (AfD) is the last glimmer of hope for this country ”, which is according to him “ on the brink of economic and cultural collapse “. The American billionaire, recently appointed to head the future Department of Government Efficiency by the president-elect Donald Trumppraises in this forum the “ controlled immigration policy » of the party, its economic objectives of “ reduce taxes » or even “ deregulate the market. »
“ Even a genius can make mistakes », for the editor-in-chief of Die Welt
The classification of the AfD as far-right is clearly false », further asserts Elon Musk, relying on the fact that his leader Alice Weidel “ has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka “. In the column, the richest man in the world is however contradicted by the new editor-in-chief of Die WeltJan Philipp Burgard, for whom “ even a genius can make mistakes. » The AfD « is a danger to our values and our economy “, affirms the journalist, recalling that another leader of the party, Björn Höcke, “has been convicted several times for using a banned Nazi slogan. »
This cross-post follows a controversial tweet published on December 20 by Elon Musk, in which he wrote that “ only the AfD » could « save theGermany “. This declaration created unease in the country in the middle of the campaign for the early elections on February 23. The AfD is credited with an average of 19% of voting intentions in the polls.
Also readGermany: strong reactions after a message of support for the far right posted by Elon Musk on
Indignant reactions
In addition to Ms. Kogel’s resignation, Elon Musk’s pro-AfD column once again sparked outraged reactions. “ We must not allow the Elon Musks of this world, the Chinese state or Russian troll factories to undermine our democracies in Europe », blasted Andreas Audretsch, campaign director of the Greens.
The Association of German Journalists (DJV), for its part, protested against the “ election advertising » permitted by the wording of Die Welt. “ The German media must not allow itself to be manipulated as a mouthpiece for autocrats and their friends », criticizes its leader Mika Beuster.
Die Welt belongs to the Axel Springer press group, the most influential in Germany, which also includes the tabloid Bildthe most read in the country.