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The head of the political party likely to win Germany’s parliamentary elections later this month has criticized billionaire Elon Musk for his interference in German elections, stating that there will likely be consequences for the billionaire’s promotion of the neo-Nazi political party Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Friedrich Merz, himself a conservative, is the leader of the right-wing Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the party currently ahead in the polls. Although Merz has consistently staked out far right anti-immigration views, his party, like other traditional German political parties, has stated that it will not form a coalition government with AfD, even though AfD is currently in second place.
Late last year, Musk officially endorsed AfD. That party’s leaders have campaigned on vehemently anti-immigrant policies and have repeatedly spewed antisemitic rhetoric, including downplaying or outright denying the Holocaust.
In an X post on Wednesday, Merz, referencing Musk specifically, said, “What happened in this election campaign cannot go unchallenged.” Merz added that there will either be a “political” or “legal” response to Musk’s involvement in the elections.
“I want to analyze this calmly after this election campaign,” Merz said.
Merz’s response to Musk — and how the German government, under his party’s watch, may react to the billionaire in the coming months — is a stark departure from Musk’s warm reception from right-wing lawmakers in the United States.
Since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Musk’s so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) — which exists only through a legally questionable executive order — has ripped through federal departments and agencies, furloughing and firing public sector workers, freezing grants and funding for various projects, and accessing sensitive data of millions of Americans, including the payment systems within the Treasury Department. With a Republican Congress unwilling to challenge the executive branch’s allowance of such actions, the most viable option for stopping DOGE in its tracks appears to be injunctions from judges within the judicial branch — which some Republicans have suggested Trump should ignore, a move that could potentially spark a constitutional crisis.
Musk, who is listed as a “special government employee” by the Trump administration, is legally obligated to avoid conflicts of interest within his work. But there are clear examples of him flouting such precautions — including the DOGE team essentially shutting down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which has been investigating complaints against Musk’s companies.
Meanwhile, it appears as though Tesla, Musk’s electric vehicle company, is set to receive around $400 million in State Department contracts to produce armored electric trucks for government officials.
Tesla was reported as likely to receive the contract as far back as December — but the impending contract has faced increased scrutiny this week as Musk’s DOGE team has made headlines. Late Wednesday evening, the State Department removed the word “Tesla” from the potential contract, prompting Musk to call at least one of the reports on the contract a “lie” — even though it’s clear that Tesla is the most likely candidate to produce the vehicles being sought.
Polling shows that, as Musk’s influence on the federal government continues, Americans are increasingly skeptical of his role. A recent Economist/YouGov poll, for example, shows that voters are split on whether they want Musk to have influence on how the government functions, with 44 percent saying they want him to have “a lot” or “a little” influence, and 45 percent saying they don’t want him to have influence at all.
Furthermore, Americans have a net-negative view of Musk’s work so far, with a plurality (47 percent) saying they disapprove of his role in government, and just 38 percent saying they approve.
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