At the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party’s campaign launch, where thousands of people gathered nationwide to protest the emergence of the far-right party, American tech entrepreneur Elon Musk gave a surprise speech.
About 4,500 AfD supporters gathering inside an auditorium in the eastern German city of Halle on Saturday gave Musk a resounding round of applause as he addressed the crowd via live video.
In an interview with Alice Weidel, the party’s leader and AfD’s candidate for chancellor, Musk reaffirmed his conviction that the party is Germany’s “best hope” in the February 23 general election.
The AfD has seen a surge in support, recently becoming the first far-right party to win a state election in Germany since the Nazi era and doing well in opinion polls for the upcoming election. However, the party has been criticised for its stance against immigrants, and all of Germany’s mainstream political parties have stated that they will not cooperate with the AfD. Germany, the largest economy in Europe, is set to hold snap elections in February after Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a vote of confidence and his ruling coalition fell apart after months of instability.
Musk, a strong admirer of US President Donald Trump, highlighted the necessity “that people take pride in Germany and being German,” a message that was received with enthusiastic acclaim at the AfD gathering.
The billionaire also spoke about immigration, which was a major election issue, and urged Weidel and her followers to maintain their sense of patriotism despite “some kind of multiculturalism that dilutes everything.”
