Leading German politicians compare Elon Musk to Vladimir Putin over AfD endorsement

euronews (in English)

The tech billionaire and close Trump ally has sent shockwaves through German politics by publicly endorsing the far-right Alternative to Germany party weeks before snap federal elections.

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00:00The German government has sought to downplay efforts by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk to

00:06get involved in the country's election campaign by repeatedly endorsing the far-right Alternative

00:11for Germany or AFD party.

00:15Government spokesperson Christiane Hoffmann said that freedom of expression also includes

00:19the greatest nonsense.

00:21In fact, Elon Musk is trying to influence the election through his involvement.

00:31I think it is good to point out again that a recommendation is made here for a party

00:42that is observed by the constitutional protection to be right-wing extremist under suspicion.

00:51Musk caused an uproar over the weekend after backing the AFD in a major German newspaper

00:56ahead of key parliamentary elections, leading to the resignation of the paper's opinion

01:00editor in protest.

01:04Germany is set to vote in an early election on February 23 after Chancellor Olaf Scholz's

01:08three-party governing coalition collapsed last month in a dispute over how to revitalise

01:14the country's stagnant economy.

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