Elon Musk’s speech in Germany raises concerns about his increased political meddling abroad

Elon Musk’s comments to a far-right party in Germany have raised concerns about the billionaire’s escalating political interference in foreign countries.

Speaking on a large screen in a video address to Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) supporters in Halle, Germany, last weekend, Musk said Germans had “too much focus on past guilt, and we need to move beyond that,” and said children “should not be guilty of the sins of their parents, let alone their great-grandparents,” apparently referencing the country’s Nazi past.

“It’s OK to be proud to be German, and not to lose that in some sort of multiculturalism that dilutes everything,” he said, to cheers from the crowd. 

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Germans protested the AfD in cities across the country, singing anti-fascist songs and carrying banners denouncing the party on the same day as Musk’s speech.

The speech prompted outcry from some Jewish leaders, coming days after Musk made what many observers called two Nazi salutes during a speech at U.S. president Donald Trump’s inaugural parade.

Supporters and detractors debated the intention behind the gesture, and Musk later joked about it by posting a series of Nazi puns on X, the social media platform he owns. 

The world’s richest person and the owner of Tesla and SpaceX, Musk is a close adviser to Trump and has an office in the White House after donating more than $250 million US to the president’s election campaign.

Musk’s AfD speech is just one example of his increasing meddling in international affairs, often boosting anti-immigrant narratives and right-wing politicians, political analysts say.

Jacob Ware, a research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who studies terrorism and counterterrorism, says it’s unclear whether Musk’s recent moves are strategic or ideological, noting the billionaire has made a “lurch to the far right” since buying Twitter (which he later renamed X) for $44 Billion US in 2022. 

“I’m not sure, honestly, whether he’s thinking of this is something where he’s going to gain, or his company is going to gain, or it’s a personal power thing,” Ware said. “Or if this is truly ideological, and he has fully swallowed the red pill of white supremacy and even national socialism.”

He says if it is truly ideological, that would be most concerning, to see a legitimate white supremacist infiltration of the White House. 

Another possibility, according to Ware, is that Musk is trolling to “own the libs” and simply looking for attention, feeling that his increasing political power in the U.S. has made him “invincible.”

Musk’s actions about ‘disruption’ and ‘ego’: professor

University of British Columbia political science professor Terri Givens, who teaches comparative politics in Europe and the U.S., says while Musk clearly influenced the U.S. election, his foray into European politics has not yet led to any major political shifts or realignments.

“It’s about disruption. And I think it’s partly ego — he wants to be seen as the guy above and beyond Trump. In a sense, he’s this weird free agent,” she said, noting that she “can’t imagine any other business leader” speaking at an AfD event. 

Givens says Musk’s actions abroad are also having an impact in North America, by emboldening people with racist and xenophobic tendencies to espouse those views publicly, particularly on social media. 

World leaders are warning Musk to stay out of their business and looking for ways to curb his influence. French President Emmanuel Macron recently slammed him for “directly intervening” in European elections, while other European Union leaders have called on regulators to impose fines and other legal sanctions on Musk, saying his social media platform has violated EU regulations. 

Here are a few times Musk has taken aim at governments and politicians outside of the U.S. 

Canada

Musk opining on Canada’s affairs is not entirely unexpected. His mother, Maye, is from Saskatchewan, and Musk himself moved to Canada in 1989. He attended Queen’s University for two years before moving to the U.S.

In December, Musk endorsed Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who he frequently praises and amplifies on X.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has suggested that Musk’s endorsement has influenced Poilievre, calling the opposition leader “a bootlicker for billionaires.” Poilievre, asked whether he accepts Musk’s endorsement, said it “would be nice if we could convince Mr. Musk to open some of his factories here in Canada.”

Last week, NDP MP Charlie Angus called on Elections Canada to launch an investigation into Musk and X, saying he is concerned about potential interference in the next federal election.

Musk has long derided Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, at one point calling him an “insufferable tool.” He called Canada’s Online Harms Act “insane” and during the COVID-19 pandemic compared Trudeau to Adolf Hitler over Canada’s vaccine mandates.

United Kingdom

Musk recently suggested King Charles should fire U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and call a new election, and has also called for Starmer to be sent to prison, pushing the false claim that the PM was “deeply complicit in mass rapes.” 

Earlier in January, he posted on X that it might be up to the United States to “liberate” Britons from their “tyrannical government.”

Back in November, Musk said the U.K. was going “full Stalin” by changing inheritance tax rules for farmers.

Perhaps most controversially, has insisted far-right activist and anti-Islam crusader Tommy Robinson — a former member of an openly fascist British political party — should be freed from jail, where he is currently serving an 18-month sentence for contempt of court. The charge that stemmed from libellous videos in which he falsely claimed a Syrian refugee child had violently attacked young girls. 

In the aftermath of the killings of three young girls at a dance class in Southport, England, last summer, Musk reposted conspiracy theories from far-right accounts linking the incident to mass immigration and stated that “civil war” in the U.K. was inevitable, a comment that drew condemnation from the government.

Australia

Musk lashed out at Australia’s government in November for its plan to ban social media for children under 16, and previously called the government “fascists” for pushing legislation that would regulate misinformation on social media.

Australia’s prime minister warned Musk in January not to interfere in the country’s upcoming election.

“We have foreign interference laws in this country and Australian elections are a matter for Australians,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Australian newspaper The Age.

Brazil

Brazil temporarily blocked X last year after Musk refused to ban accounts that spread misinformation about the country’s 2022 presidential election.

In retaliation, Musk fired X’s Brazilian staff and shut the local office. The ban was later lifted after the platform changed course and complied with the Supreme Court’s rulings that it must follow hate speech moderation. 

Musk has called Alexandre de Moraes, the judge who ordered the X shutdown, an “evil dictator.”

“This judge has brazenly and repeatedly betrayed the constitution and people of Brazil. He should resign or be impeached,” Musk said on X. “Shame.”

Ukraine

Musk has pestered Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in numerous social media posts, including a four-point plan for peace he posted on X in 2022 that included suggesting elections be held in the Russian-occupied areas of the country. 

Zelenskyy suggested in a retaliatory post that Musk was pro-Russia. Andrij Melnyk, Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, responded more bluntly, replying to Musk, “F–k off is my very diplomatic reply to you.” 

In 2023, Musk revealed that his company SpaceX had refused an emergency request to extend Starlink coverage to Sevastopol to aid the Ukrainian army, and then posted a meme mocking Zelenskyy’s requests for financial aid.

Ireland

Musk characteristically praised an anti-immigration rally in Dublin last year, writing, “The people of Ireland are standing up for themselves!” 

This came after he said in November 2023 that Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar “hates the Irish people,” while criticizing a proposal for stricter hate speech laws in the wake of the Dublin riots. An opposition party representative accused Musk of “inciting hatred and violence” with his comments.

Netherlands

Musk also weighed in when Geert Wilders, a far-right Dutch politician known for his anti-Islam and anti-immigration views, posted in January 2024, “The biggest problem we face today is a collapse of our own culture and Western values due to open borders.” 

Musk responded, referencing the country’s low birth rate, saying “the Dutch nation will die out by its own hand.”

Venezuela

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro banned X for 10 days last August.

That followed a dispute with Musk, during which he called Maduro a “dictator” and a “clown” and accused him of “major election fraud.”

Maduro, in return, accused Musk of inciting “hatred, fascism and civil war.”

Romania 

Musk has made several posts about the Romanian Constitutional Court’s decision to cancel the country’s elections in the wake of attacks from Russia, lashing out at the judge. “How can a judge cancel an election and not be considered a dictator?” he posted on X.

He has also expressed support for Romanian right-wing candidate Călin Georgescu, who has been accused of being pro-Russia.