SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Billionaire Elon Musk begins 2025 as one of the most influential people in the United States. He's developed a close relationship with President-elect Donald Trump and has been advising the incoming administration on policy and staffing. And Musk is now increasingly weighing in on European politics as well, often over the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, which he owns. Musk began voicing support for the far-right Alternative for Germany Party, or AFD, in late December, and his input has generated a lot of response there. Reporter Rebecca Collard joins us now from Berlin. Hey there.
REBECCA COLLARD: Hello.
DETROW: So it seems like there has been a lot of political reaction to Musk's comments. Tell us about that.
COLLARD: Well, you can imagine, you know, Musk saying that the AFD is the only party that can save Germany was, of course, welcomed by the AFD, but it's really been rejected as interference from other politicians across Germany's political spectrum. You know, Germans will be voting February 23 for a new federal government, and at the moment, the far-right AFD is polling second at about 20%, behind the conservative CDU. But the AFD really has no chance of actually taking power because the other political parties in this country have said that they will not form a coalition with the AFD, and the federal police here have the party under observation because it's a possible threat to democracy.
But I will say that Musk's support has caused a lot of concern about a foreign billionaire's ability to sway their politics. And, you know, after all this, Musk doubled down on that tweet with an op-ed in a German newspaper justifying his interjection into German politics, mentioning his investments in this country. And that has really prompted a lot more response from Chancellor Olaf Scholz, from the head of the CDU and most recently from Germany's vice chancellor from the Green Party, Robert Habeck.
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ROBERT HABECK: (Speaking German).
COLLARD: And here, Habeck is accusing Mask of wanting a weak Europe for his own interests.
DETROW: So that's leaders. What are other Germans saying about this?
COLLARD: So I was out today talking to people just to try to get this kind of anecdotal gauge on how Germans are feeling because we've seen such a strong reaction from German politicians. And a lot of people I tried to speak to didn't want to or didn't care to talk about it, but a lot of others really rejected it. I think Musk does have this special place in the Berlin consciousness. He's this tech billionaire who built this Tesla plant just outside the capital, and it employs thousands of people. But he's also kind of the antithesis of what a lot of people like to think Berlin is.
And there's this kind of famous techno club here called Berghain. It's notoriously hard to get into. And in 2022, Musk was rumored to have been rejected by the bouncer at the club, though Musk himself said he decided not to go in. But whatever really happened, a lot of people here really relished that story. There was tons of memes about it online, and people just kind of loved the fact that the world's richest man apparently got rejected from Berlin's coolest club.
DETROW: Well, I guess you can go or say whatever you want when you own the social media app where you're posting, which is the case with X, and Musk is not just posting about Germany, though, which is also what makes this interesting. He's been weighing in on the politics in the United Kingdom, as well. What's going on there?
COLLARD: Yeah, so Musk has really attacked British Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer. A lot of his accusations have been related to sexual assault cases against minors in the U.K., which Musk has accused Starmer of failing to investigate when his job was director of public prosecutions. And that was really him copying the lines of Tommy Robinson, who is a right-wing activist and founder of the English Defence League. Now, he's jailed right now for 18 months for breaching a court order. Musk this week called for his release from jail on the platform X. And Musk has also talked about making sizable donations to the Reform U.K. Party, although U.K. election rules would make that a bit complicated. I will say British papers have been reporting that right-wing politicians in the U.K. have now been reaching out to President-elect Trump and his people, urging them to distance themselves from any support of Robinson.
DETROW: If Musk keeps this up, how different do you think his role in German politics could be compared to the U.S.?
COLLARD: So I think the really big difference here is probably how political parties and campaigns can be funded. Estimates say Musk spent something like $250 million to help get Trump elected. Germany is really different. German law forbids any foreign contribution to any political party that exceeds 500 euros. So at the moment, that's about the same amount in dollars. But what I think is really similar is the possible impact of Musk's personal brand and, of course, also his social media platform X. It's big in the U.S., and it's big here in Germany.
And I think for Germans, both politicians and regular voters who don't support the AFD or don't agree with Musk's ideas, it's worrying how much impact that could have. You know, when the German president dissolved Parliament last month, officially paving the way for these elections in February, he talked about the dangers to German Democracy, and he specifically mentioned the X platform. And it seems confirmed now that Musk is going to have a conversation with the leader of the AFD, Alice Weidel, on his platform. And the expectation is a lot of people will be tuning into that.
DETROW: That is Reporter Rebecca Collard in Berlin. Thank you so much.
COLLARD: You're welcome.
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