The German government has described U.S. tech billionaire Elon Musk's renewed endorsement of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) as an attempt to sway the country's upcoming election.
Musk is free to express his opinion, said deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann in Berlin. But at the same time, she said, "It is indeed the case that Elon Musk is trying to influence the federal election through his comments."
She was responding to Musk's call for support for the AfD in Germany's Feb. 23 vote.
In an opinion piece for Germany's conservative newspaper Die Welt, Musk described the AfD as "the last spark of hope for this country."
The piece's publication prompted the resignation of a senior editor at the newspaper in protest.
Hoffmann emphasized that the elections would be decided by the voters at the ballot box and said they are a German matter.
Freedom of expression is a valuable right, Hoffmann said. Musk's view, she added, need not be shared.
She also noted that the party recommended by Musk is being investigated by the security services under suspicion of right-wing extremism.
When asked about the chancellor's view and the fact that the newspaper published the piece, Hoffmann underlined, "The Chancellor does not comment on editorial decisions that have been made. Absolutely not."
Musk also owns X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. When asked whether the German government intends to remain active on the X platform, Hoffmann said, "Of course we are very concerned about what is happening on X."
She said it was also important to consider the consequences of leaving the platform and thereby no longer being able to reach users. "Given this, we are of the opinion at the moment that it is right to be there," she said.
Musk has emerged as a close advisor to US President-elect Donald Trump.
He has justified his intervention in German politics with the fact that he is chief executive of electric carmaker Tesla, which operates a huge production plant to the east of Berlin, and thus has a legitimate interest.
