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13:31 GMT 04.01.2025 (Updated: 13:45 GMT 04.01.2025)
Teams representing US billionaire Elon Musk and Alice Weidel, leader of Germany’s right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, are discussing a potential live broadcast conversation, Weidel’s spokesman Daniel Tapp told a German news magazine. Earlier, Musk openly endorsed AfD, claiming it was the «last hope» for Germany.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has dismissed the “erratic statements of a billionaire from the US” targeting the policies of parties like his Social Democratic Party (SPD) as par for the course.
“It’s nothing new when it comes down to it. You have to stay cool,” he told Stern magazine. He added that “Musk can say what he likes… Germany is governed by the will of its citizens.”
In a timeline of the recent verbal vitriol:
The Tesla CEO urged Scholz to “resign immediately» in a post on X, responding to a deadly attack at a German Christmas market in December, adding: «Incompetent fool.»
Musk referred to Frank-Walter Steinmeier as an «undemocratic tyrant» after Germany’s federal president explicitly mentioned the social media platform X (owned by Musk) when warning of “external influences” on the upcoming snap elections.
The key advisor to US President-elect Donald Trump offered a public endorsement of the right-wing Alternative for Germany on X and in an op-ed for Welt am Sonntag, saying the AfD is “the last spark of hope for this country.”
Scholz took a veiled swipe at Musk in his New Year’s address, saying Germany’s future “will not be decided by the owners of social media channels.”
The billionaire is expected to hold a live talk with AfD leader Alice Weidel on X Spaces on January 9.
10 November 2024, 18:11 GMT
