The Danish eco-socialist party, Enhedslisten, is pushing for a 20,000 kroner (€2.680) cap on donations to political parties to prevent “Musk-style” influence in Danish politics.
Pelle Drasgetd, spokesperson for the party, stressed the need to protect democracy from wealthy oligarchs and foreign interests.
“Elon Musk must keep the cutters away from our democracy! We must protect our democracy from rich men and oligarchs from both home and abroad who try to use their wealth to interfere in democratic elections, ” said Pelle Drasgetd on January 9.
According to Drasgsted, Elon Musk uses his fortune to fund his political agenda by backing candidates.
“Elon Musk used his enormous fortune to get Trump elected and then to get a prominent position on Trump’s team,” he said.
Elon Musk skal holde snitterne væk fra vores demokrati!
Vi skal beskytte vores demokrati mod rigmænd og oligarker fra både ind- og udland, der forsøger at bruge deres velstand på at blande sig i demokratiske valg.
Derfor foreslår Enhedslisten nu et loft på 20.000 kroner, over…
— Pelle Dragsted (@pelledragsted) January 9, 2025
Pelle Drasgetd argued that private potential financial donations create an imbalance in the democratic process.
“We have seen how financial donations from private interests play an increasingly important role in party campaigns. The parties with the wealthiest friends can buy themselves greater visibility and more expensive campaigns. This undermines democracy and must be stopped,” he said.
“Democracy should be the rule of the people – not of money. That’s why we want big money out of Danish politics,” he added.
Some Danish politicians have been courting Elon Musk online.
On January 5, Elon Musk showed interest in Danish politics by sharing statistics on foreign crime in Denmark on X, his own social media.
Independent MP Lars Boje Mathiesen replied to Elon Musk’s post confirming the numbers and asked Musk to contact him.
“That is one of the reasons why I have founded The People Party in Denmark (Borgernes Parti), which already has received enough support to be on the ballot for the next election. You are more than welcome to contact me. [email protected] or here on X,” he said.
The Danish Socialists are not the only Socialists targeting Musk.
The EU socialist party PES demanded on January 7 that the European Union take action against Elon Musk and his X social media platform over “manipulation”.
Concerns over Musk’s influence on national politics have surfaced in other European countries, also triggering attempts to change the law on political donations.
The British press reported that the UK Labour Government was talking to Britain’s election watchdog about tighter controls on political donations amid Musk’s alleged possible donation to right-wing party Reform UK.
Former Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) MP Stewart McDonald, also called for tighter controls on political donations, fearing Elon Musk’s interference in the upcoming Scottish election.
“There are elections here in Scotland next year, and there’s no reason to assume he won’t want to influence the outcome of those elections — quite the opposite,” he said on January 3.
Europe’s Socialist parties have demanded Brussels take action against Elon Musk and his X social media platform over his alleged “manipulation” of the continent’s politics. https://t.co/ewgQCTnBnv
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) January 8, 2025
