US tech billionaire Elon Musk has appeared in a video call at the election campaign kick-off of the Alternative for Germany Party (AfD), again showing his strong support for the hard-right party.
On January 25, Musk, who seemed to have difficulties hearing enthusiastic AfD supporters at the conference, called the AfD Germany’s “best hope” in the upcoming general election on February 23.
He also said that he preferred nation states over the European Union.
Musk said there was need for more self-determination for Germany and the countries in Europe and less from Brussels. He said there was “too much bureaucracy” coming from Brussels and “too much control from sort of global elites”.
He urged Germans to take pride in their country and in their being German.
“I think it’s very important that people take pride in Germany and being German … it’s ok to be proud to be German.
“It’s good to be proud of German culture and German values and not to lose that in some sort of multiculturalism that deludes everything.
“I think we want to have unique cultures in the world … we don’t need everything to be the same everywhere, where it’s just one big sort of soup.
“We want to have something [that] when you go to different countries and experience different cultures … that is unique, special and good.
“And that the German Government takes action to protect its citizens and makes sure that it seeks the health and well-being of the German people.
“The German people are really an ancient nation, which goes back thousands of years,” Musk said.
But the tech guru insisted there was “too much focus on past guilt” and “we need to move beyond that”.
“Children should not be guilty of the sins of their parents or their great-grandparents maybe even.”
He called for Germans to be optimistic and excited about the future for the country.
Musk said he considered the upcoming election in Germany to be “incredibly important” and that it could “decide the future of entire Europe, maybe even the world”.
He accused the current German Government of aggressively suppressing free speech and said that citizens’ rights needed to be protected.
“People want change And if you want change, you have to vote for another party. That’s a fact, that’s logical,” Musk said.
He assured the AfD of his support and that of the administration of US President Donald Trump.
Elon Musk‘s great speech at our party convention! Make America & Germany great again! 🇺🇸🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/XHtMIBfOYh
— Alice Weidel (@Alice_Weidel) January 26, 2025
Herbert Kickl, who looks likely in recent polls to be the next chancellor of Austria, also spoke at the event via video. “We are rooting for you in this election campaign,” he said, calling the AfD and and his party, the FPÖ, “partners”.
At the same time as the conference, there were protests held by thousands of Left and hard-left campaigners in several German cities, denouncing the AfD.
Politicians on the Left accused Musk of interfering in domestic policies in Europe and working together with what they called the “far-right”.
