Summary

Elon Musk sparked outrage in Germany by endorsing the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party on his platform, X, claiming “only the AfD can save Germany.”

The AfD, which polls second ahead of Germany’s February snap election, has been labeled extremist by German intelligence.

Political leaders accused Musk of election interference, while others criticized his remarks as harmful. Musk later doubled down, calling for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s resignation.

Musk’s comments align with his past support for far-right and anti-immigration figures across Europe and beyond.

  • Fedizen@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    If luigi killed this guy I would not shed a single tear.

    I would crack open an ice cold beer.

  • themaninblack@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    There is nothing surprising about a white South African promoting a racist political party. White South Africans are the most openly and unabashedly racist people on the planet.

  • matlag@sh.itjust.works
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    5 days ago

    You should be more undersantding. Since Trump is now enraged because people call Musk the President, Musk needs to find a backup country where he’ll be called the leader before Trump kicks him out. That’s all just risk mitigation!

    • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      Well Elon isn’t Jewish, gay, roma, disabled, Germsn, polish, French, Italian, Russian, British, …or a poor American so it isn’t his problem

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    It’s important to note that right after saying this…

    A German AFD supporter who retweets Musk drove into a Christmas market in a terrorist attack

    Germany has stricter laws about inciting violence, it’s a long shot but maybe he’ll get charges

  • Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de
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    7 days ago

    An apartheid-loving nazi calls for the nazi party to be the savior of Germany? Never would I have guessed.

    The information, I as a not very politically interested German (understatement) have: We are holding re-elections on Feburary 23rd because the current government imploded. Basically, the rich guys’ party doesn’t want to make rich guys pay taxes and being children about it, most other parties seem desperate at this point, else they wouldn’t have challenged that much. They have never cared that much, so I have no idea what changed. The populist nazi party Musk cheers for has a lot traction because people are beyond stupid and self-centered and I fear that they will get a significant amount of votes. Maybe they don’t win outright, but they will realistically take second place. I regard everyone that considers to vote for AfD as a nazi.

  • cows_are_underrated@feddit.org
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    6 days ago

    Musk later doubled down, calling for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s resignation.

    This stupid POS doesn’t even know that this already happened a few days ago.

    • viking@infosec.pub
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      6 days ago

      Scholz didn’t resign, he called for and lost a vote of no confidence, so the parliament will be dissolved by the German prime minister and new elections are due in late February, where Scholz can (and likely will) throw his hat in the ring again.

      A resignation is something different.

      • excral@feddit.org
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        6 days ago

        No, that’s exactly how resignation works for a chancellor in Germany. The only alternative would be for a new chancellor to be elected by the Bundestag (parlament), but since no candidate would have a majority he resigned by triggering a vote of confidence.

    • Snowclone@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      He knows what benifits him. That’s the entirety of his motivations. Evil greedy assholes are quite dull, he just knows what makes him more money and more power.

    • b161@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      6 days ago

      It doesn’t matter to him. All he knows that he’s a Dark Enlightenment fascist white supremacist. The poors and non-whites must die. Fascist governments must be in power everywhere so he can have his world where he is king, he has robots to do his bidding and can try to live forever.

    • Miaou@jlai.lu
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      5 days ago

      Ugh, I must live in alternate-reality Germany. Not like AfD can improve things, but come on

      • slingstone@lemmy.world
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        5 days ago

        I genuinely apologize for my ignorance. Germany looks like a damned paradise of free healthcare and other social welfare programs from the States. What issues are you facing over there?

        • raef@lemmy.world
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          4 days ago

          Just want to clarify that healthcare is not free; there are insurance companies and coverage is paid for.

          The difference is they are more regulated and everyone must have insurance coverage

        • Khaliso@slrpnk.net
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          5 days ago

          Mainly missed opportunities due to inefficiencies and conflicts of interest in politics I’d say?

          • Draedron@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            5 days ago

            The biggest issue is a lack of investments due to us putting a block of taking on new government debt into our constitution so there never is enough money to invest in things like the infrastructure. That and too much bureaucracy in everything.

  • WeUnite@lemm.ee
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    6 days ago

    No country is safe from Elon Musk’s election interference. It’s urgent that we boycott Twitter and Tesla. If you have a Twitter account do the following now:

    1. Send a DM to your favorite accounts and urge them to stop using Twitter.
    2. (If you haven’t already) register for Bluesky.
    3. Make a Tweet saying you are no longer using Twitter.
    4. Tell your friends to follow the same instructions.

    These could take as little as five minutes of your time but it will make a huge difference because of the ripple effect. When one person leaves it will automatically incentivize your friends to follow you. You have the power to make a difference.

      • bss03@infosec.pub
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        6 days ago

        Either is better than X/Twitter for now. Bluesky is “easier” for many people. I prefer Mastodon myself, but there’s a bridge so I can follow Bluesky profiles (and vice-versa) which is nice.

          • splinter@lemm.ee
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            6 days ago

            This is false. It still has areas in which it could improve, but it is a thousand times better than twitter.

    • Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works
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      7 days ago

      English teacher here. Often editing to use less words can make your statements more concise and accurate. For example, try “STFU Musk, you know shit”

        • MutilationWave@lemmy.world
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          6 days ago

          Don’t listen to them, your statement was fine, your English is good, and I think what you wrote is better than their edit.

          I think they’re trying to be funny by implying that he doesn’t know shit about anything, rather than just Germany, but it’s not a well crafted joke if that was the intention.

        • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          6 days ago

          Their advice is kind of bad… “you know shit” implies that he’s intelligent and knows things. Especially if just written down. If speaking, you may be able to convey what you want with tone and context, but even still…

          Despite it being technically incorrect, grammatically, what you meant to say was, “you don’t know shit.” E.g., “You don’t know shit about Germany” = “You know nothing about Germany.”

          English is fucking weird, and I can’t imagine learning all of these rules. Frankly, I couldn’t even explain to you how I know 3/4 of them, it’s just innate at this point.

          • Taleya@aussie.zone
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            5 days ago

            Mm but we’re also very contextual- the ‘shut the fuck up’ implies the negative. So a native speaker automatically fills in the missing ‘all’ after shit or ‘don’t’ before know depending on regional preference

            • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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              5 days ago

              Yeah, I definitely read it the correct way, but I can see how someone who isn’t a native speaker could be confused by the wording. “You know shit” just sounds weird, especially after such a negative prior sentence.

              • Taleya@aussie.zone
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                4 days ago

                Fun part is that only really applies in the written format - spoken it would have been incredibly clear!

                (Enflish isn’t an inflection language my arse} )