LONDON — After pouring his money and energy into helping Donald Trump win re-election, Elon Musk has set his sights on Europe, alarming politicians across the continent.
The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX has endorsed the far-right Alternative for Germany, demanded the release of Tommy Robinson, a jailed anti-Islam extremist in the United Kingdom, and referred to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as an evil tyrant worthy of imprisonment.
Many European politicians have been concerned about the attention. Musk’s feed on his social network X is littered with abusive language, such as calling politicians “stupid cretins” and “sniveling cowards,” as well as retweets from far-right and anti-immigrant accounts.
According to Andrew Chadwick, a professor of political communication at Loughborough University, Musk is using X “a bit like an old-style newspaper mogul,” to promote his political views.
“We’ve seen Musk start to align himself much more obviously with an international movement of the far right,” Chadwick said. “If you look at the kinds of people who Musk himself is boosting on his platform … he’s increasingly started to assemble a group of different right-wing influencers, many of them with large followings, and presenting their evidence as a basis for his interventions into European politics.”
Musk has entered German politics, which is set for a February 23 election after center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s fractious three-party coalition government fell apart.
On December 20, Musk wrote on X: “Only the AfD can save Germany,” referring to the Alternative for Germany party, which is being monitored by the domestic intelligence agency for potential extremism.
In an article for the newspaper Welt am Sonntag, he reiterated his support for the AfD, claiming that Germany is “teetering on the edge of economic and cultural collapse.” Musk will hold a live chat on X later this week with Alice Weidel, co-leader of the AfD.
Scholz’s response exemplifies the dilemma that European politicians face: should they ignore and allow Musk’s comments to go unchallenged, or engage and risk amplifying them?
Scholz has stated that it is important to “stay cool” in the face of personal attacks, but Musk’s involvement in German politics is concerning. Scholz stated in a new year message that Germany’s future “will not be decided by the owners of social media channels” but by German voters.
French President Emmanuel Macron warned on Monday about the dangers of unchecked power in the hands of tech billionaires, as well as the destabilizing effect it could have on democratic institutions.
“Who could have imagined, 10 years ago, that the owner of one of the world’s largest social networks would intervene directly in elections, including in Germany?” Macron said.
Greek Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis described Musk’s behavior as “troubling and far from amusing.”
“Someone cannot simply use their platform, wealth and connections to try to dictate how governments are formed in each nation,” according to Parapolitika Radio. “This is becoming increasingly dangerous.”
Musk has become increasingly interested in British politics since the center-left Labour Party was elected in July, describing Starmer as a “evil” leader presiding over a “tyrannical police state.”
Musk’s recent focus has been on child sexual abuse, specifically a series of cases that shook northern England towns several years ago, in which groups of men, primarily from Pakistani backgrounds, were tried for grooming and abusing dozens of mostly white girls. Far-right activists have used the cases to link child abuse with immigration and Islam.
Musk has accused Starmer of failing to bring perpetrators to justice while he was England’s director of public prosecutions from 2008 to 2013, which Starmer strongly denies.
“Starmer must go and he must face charges for his complicity in the worst mass crime in the history of Britain,” tweeted Musk.
According to Chadwick, “there’s been a hesitancy on the part of the political elite in the U.K. to engage” with what he considered “incredibly inflammatory remarks.” However, Starmer’s stance shifted on Monday, condemning “lies and misinformation” and accusing UK Conservative politicians who have echoed some of Musk’s points of “amplifying what the far right are saying.”
“I enjoy the cut and thrust of politics, the robust debate that we must have, but that’s got to be based on facts and truth, not on lies,” the prime minister explained.
Starmer is facing calls to tighten Britain’s foreign interference laws, and governments around the world are under pressure to exit X. Both the British and German governments say they have no plans to leave the platform.
Musk’s X is being investigated by European authorities in an effort to combat hatred, disinformation, and other toxic content on social media.
The European Union has initiated infringement proceedings against X under the bloc’s Digital Services Act, and EU spokesman Thomas Regnier said it will investigate whether Musk’s livestream interview with the AfD’s Weidel on Thursday provides inappropriate “preferential treatment” to the party during a pre-election period.
Musk, a self-proclaimed free-speech advocate, has criticized efforts to regulate social media. He has compared British attempts to combat online misinformation through the Online Safety Act to Soviet censorship.
Musk clearly enjoys baiting mainstream politicians on social media, but Chadwick stated that it “remains to be seen” whether his post changes public attitudes or benefits the causes he supports.
And political interventions are risky for him. Tesla investors are closely monitoring his comments for signs that he may be alienating car buyers who disagree with his political views.
Tesla is already struggling in Europe, where new registrations for Musk’s electric vehicles dropped 13% in the first nine months of 2023, according to auto research firm Jato Dynamics. In Germany, Tesla registrations fell by 44%.
According to Jato senior analyst Felipe Munoz, Musk’s outspokenness is unusual and risky for the owner of a publicly traded company — though it may pay off in the long run.
“Europe is going to (the) right,” he said, citing politicians such as France’s Marine Le Pen and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni.
“Look what happened in the United States. His bet on Trump proved successful. “He’s playing the same game in Europe.”
