BERLIN: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned Elon Musk’s “erratic” comments and his open support for the extreme-right AfD party in an interview published Saturday. The world’s wealthiest man—who owns social media platform X—has in a string of posts attacked several European leaders and ruffled feathers on the continent.

Asked about interference by Musk—who last month called Scholz an “incompetent fool” before calling the German president an “anti-democratic tyrant”, the chancellor told Stern magazine it was important “to keep calm” ahead of Germany’s snap elections on February 23.

“In Germany, everything is proceeding according to the wishes of our citizens and not the erratic comments of an American billionaire,” he told the magazine in an interview. “The German president is not an anti-democratic tyrant and Germany is a strong and stable democracy—never mind what Mr Musk says.”

Scholz said public support from the ever-more-powerful Musk for the far-right AfD was “much more problematic than these insults”. The Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is polling in second place behind the conservatives, “advocates closer links with Putin’s Russia and wants to weaken trans-Atlantic ties”, Scholz said.

The extreme-right party acknowledged this week it was in regular contact with the entourage of South African-born Musk, who is due on January 9 to host a conversation on X with AfD leader Alice Weidel. Asked if he personally wished to debate with the 53-year-old owner of Tesla and SpaceX, Scholz said: “I don’t think it necessary to seek Mr Musk’s favours. I’ll leave that to others.”

The chancellor said he had met Musk in March 2022 at the opening of a Tesla factory in the state of Brandenburg “at a time when the local branch of AfD was protesting against it”. Germany is not Musk’s only target in Europe, where many governments are already grappling with the rise of populism and the far-right.

This week he called for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to be removed and urged the release from jail of extremist UK agitator Tommy Robinson. He held talks in December with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a leading figure on the radical right; called the European Union undemocratic; and branded as dictators judges who annulled Romania’s presidential election amid suspicions of Russian interference.

Musk is an enthusiastic supporter of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the country’s most right-wing leader since 1945. Musk’s political initiatives are intimately linked to his economic interests, experts suggest.

For Musk and Trump, “democracy, debate, disagreement, state welfare systems all get in the way of business”, said Ilan Kapoor, a professor at Toronto’s York University known for his critical research on neo-liberalism. – AFP