Vance shares Musk op-ed backing Germany's far-right party
Vice President-elect JD Vance took to the social platform X on Thursday to share an op-ed by Elon Musk in which the tech mogul expressed support for the far-right German political party Alternative for Germany, or AfD.
Quoting Musk’s English version of the opinion piece, Vance said it was an “interesting piece.”
The vice president-elect emphasized that he wasn’t endorsing AfD in the upcoming German elections, as it was not his country and “we hope to have good relations with all Germans.”
He further took aim at U.S. media outlets, adding that “American media slanders AfD as Nazi-lite, But AfD is most popular in the same areas of Germany that were most resistant to the Nazis.”
Musk, a key ally of President-elect Trump, wrote the guest opinion piece in the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag. In his piece, the Tesla CEO touched on a variety of issues that, in his view, Germany needs to address as it nears an “economic and cultural collapse.”
He also claimed in a separate post on X that “only the AfD can save Germany.”
The paper’s commentary editor resigned in protest of the op-ed, and the German government on Monday accused Musk of trying to influence its February election.
In response to Vance’s tweet, Germany’s ambassador to the U.S. Andreas Michaelis called it an “interesting observation” in a post on Bluesky.
“Historical context can be tricky – while some areas you are referring to resisted the Nazi party early on, others did not, or later became strongholds of the regime. Germany’s history reminds us how important it is to challenge extremism in all its forms,” he wrote.
Musk, who first backed the AfD in December last year, defended his efforts to get involved in Germany’s politics, saying he has the “right” to do so because he has “made significant investments” in the country’s technological and industrial sectors.
The billionaire has also called for the resignation of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Elections in the country are set for Feb. 23. The far-right AfD has continued to maintain its position as the second most popular party in the country. However, all major parties in Germany have ruled out the possibility of a coalition government with it.
“It is indeed the case that Elon Musk is trying to influence the federal election through his statement,” German government spokesperson Christiane Hoffmann said at a Monday media briefing. Hoffmann added that “freedom of expression also includes the greatest nonsense.”
AfD has called for a strong anti-immigration stance and has backed mass deportations from Germany.
Musk has been wading into global politics more frequently. He recently criticized British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Labour Party-led government.
Updated: 4:13 p.m.