Elon Musk hosts X livestream chat with AfD leader Alice Weidel- Key takeaways – Times of
Billionaire Elon Musk hosted a live, English-language interview with Alice Weidel, the chancellor candidate for Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, ahead of the country’s snap election scheduled for February 23.
The initial exchanges in the live audio discussion on Musk’s X platform were varied, covering topics from solar power to the complexities of Germany’s business regulations.
Musk opened the conversation by saying, “Welcome to the discussion with Alice Weidel, who I believe is the leading candidate to run Germany.” Over 200,000 X accounts tuned in to the livestream.
Key takeaways from Elon Musk’s interview with Alice Weidel
Musk Endorses AfD and Weidel: Musk publicly endorsed Alice Weidel describing her as “the leading candidate to run Germany.”
“And I think Alice Weidel is a very reasonable person, and hopefully people can tell just from this conversation. Nothing outrageous is being proposed, just common sense,” he added. He also endorsed the AfD, stating it was the “sensible move” for German voters.
Contentious Views on Nazism: During the conversation, Musk asked Weidel to directly address the concerns that “is somehow associated with Nazism.”
Weidel responded by distancing her party from the label, pointing out that the Nazis were not conservatives but rather “communist socialist” figures.
“The biggest success after that terrible era in our history was to label Adolf Hitler as right and conservative. He was exactly the opposite. He wasn’t a conservative. He wasn’t a libertarian. He was a communist socialist guy,” Weidel claimed, according to AP. “We are wrongly framed,” she added.
Germany’s complex business: Musk and Weidel shared a moment of laughter as she inquired about his familiarity with Germany’s complex business regulations. “As a matter of fact I do,” he replied, describing how one of his own applications stretched to 25,000 pages and had to be printed multiple times.
Weidel appeared visibly pleased at the chance to present her perspective to the audience without, as she contended, facing interruptions or being wrongly labelled as the leader of an “extremist” party.
Criticism of Germany’s Education System: The discussion also touched on Germany’s education system, where Weidel criticized the “woke” and “socialist” agenda in schools, particularly focusing on gender studies.
“We have this insane, wokeish, socialist, leftist agenda in our educational system. So, the young people, they don’t learn anything in school, university,” she said. “
They just learn about gender studies,” she said the Politico reported. Musk agreed, remarking that, “It sounds like the woke mind virus has infected Germany quite badly.”
Human colonization of Mars: The interview moved beyond politics when Weidel asked Musk about human colonization of Mars and his beliefs about God. Musk responded, “I am open to the idea of God.”
Current polling data indicates that AfD has emerged as Germany’s second most popular party. The Christian Democrats maintain their lead with 31% support, whilst AfD follows at 20%, according to recent surveys.
European Commission watchdogs also monitored the conversation between Musk and Weidel on X, as the platform faces accusations of violating the digital regulations designed to protect internet users across the 27-nation bloc.
Following his efforts to support Donald Trump’s re-election in the United States last year, Musk is now wielding his influence through X, a platform often associated with misinformation, to support the Alternative for Germany party before the February 23 election.
“Only the AfD can save Germany,” Musk wrote on X on December 20, using the acronym for the party, known in German as Alternative für Deutschland.
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