Musk Endorses Neo-Nazi German Party Hours After Sanders Calls Him Authoritarian
Musk is backing a vehemently anti-immigrant, far right party in Germany’s upcoming elections.
By Chris Walker ,
Musk is backing a vehemently anti-immigrant, far right party in Germany’s upcoming elections.
By Chris Walker ,
December 20, 2024
Elon Musk is seen in the U.S. Capitol after a meeting with Sen. John Thune on December 5, 2024.Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
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Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) has called out Republicans for acquiescing to billionaire Elon Musk’s demands to thwart a bipartisan spending bill that was needed to fend off a government shutdown this weekend.
In his comments, Sanders derided Musk — who is co-leading president-elect Donald Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency — as an authoritarian oligarchic.
The bipartisan spending bill that Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) negotiated with Democrats would have funded the government through March. However, after Musk urged GOP lawmakers to oppose the bill, Johnson, sensing he wouldn’t have enough support from his own party, scrapped the legislation, and put up a new spending bill without Democratic Party input. That bill also failed to pass after Democrats in the House voted against it, with dozens of Republicans opposing the bill, albeit for different ideological reasons.
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Musk’s influence within the Republican Party is so inviolable that some in the GOP have actually called for him to replace Johnson as Speaker of the House. Musk and Trump have said that Republicans who do not support the spending bills they endorse should be primaried out of their seats in the 2026 midterm elections. Musk has also said that he’s not opposed to shutting down the government until Trump is inaugurated in mid-January.
“Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, is threatening to unseat elected officials if they do not follow his orders to shut down the government during the holidays,” Sanders noted in a recent social media post. “Are we still a democracy or have we already moved to oligarchy and authoritarianism?”
Sanders Warns Trump Is a Fascist Who May Let Musk Control the Presidency
Sanders’s warning comes the same day as the Tesla CEO is scheduled to headline a Trump rally in Madison Square Garden. By Olivia Rosane , CommonDreamsOctober 27, 2024
In an earlier post, Sanders derided Musk as being an oligarch who Republicans adhered to.
“The US Congress this week came to an agreement to fund our government. Elon Musk, who became $200 BILLION richer since Trump was elected, objected,” Sanders wrote. “Are Republicans beholden to the American people? Or President Musk? This is oligarchy at work.”
Hours after Sanders’s comments, Musk signaled his support for a neo-fascist political party in Gemarny’s February elections.
In a post on his social media site X, Musk endorsed Alternative for Germany (AfD), a far right, anti-immigrant and antisemitic party that is gaining popularity among conservative Germans.
“Only the AfD can save Germany,” the billionaire wrote.
Musk has previously endorsed other far right figures in Europe, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and United Kingdom Reform party leader Nigel Farage.
Musk has tried to normalize AfD’s views in the past, claiming they “don’t sound extremist” to him and questioning if he was “missing something.”
AfD is vehemently anti-immigration, particularly with regard to Muslims, calling for a “net zero” number of immigrants entering Germany in the coming years. Leaders of the party have repeatedly made racist and antisemitic statements, emphasizing a need to return to a German “identity” and pushing other white nationalist views; AfD leader Alexander Gauland, for example, has described immigration to the country as an “invasion of foreigners” that he and his party intend to fight off.
The party has also called for changes to how Nazi Germany is depicted in historical settings, such as monuments, schools and museums, with Gauland once minimizing the country’s Nazi history as being no more than “just a speck of bird’s muck.” Other AfD members have denied Nazi wrongdoing, including by describing the Holocaust as a “myth.”
Musk’s public support for AfD is just the latest example of the billionaire sharing reactionary viewpoints on X. Musk has, for example, called for the deportation of protesters utilizing the First Amendment to express views he disagrees with. He has also promoted antisemitic, anti-Muslim, transphobic and other bigoted content on his profile, and has shared content denying the Holocaust.
Novelist and political commentator Patrick S. Tomlinson has said that Musk’s support for AfD is illuminating.
“The AfD is Germany’s neo-Nazi party,” Tomlinson wrote on Bluesky. “They are anti-immigration, anti-EU, and unapologetically pro-Putin. The German courts have labeled the entire party extremist. Elon Musk has gone fully mask off.”
Commentator Paul Krugman also weighed in on Musk’s latest endorsement, noting that the billionaire’s statement was “obviously where he was going.”
When it comes to fascist sentiments, Musk “isn’t hiding it at all,” Krugman added.
Independent journalism like Truthout has been struggling to survive for years – and it’s only going to get harder under Trump’s presidency. If you value progressive media, please make a year-end donation today.
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) has called out Republicans for acquiescing to billionaire Elon Musk’s demands to thwart a bipartisan spending bill that was needed to fend off a government shutdown this weekend.
In his comments, Sanders derided Musk — who is co-leading president-elect Donald Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency — as an authoritarian oligarchic.
The bipartisan spending bill that Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) negotiated with Democrats would have funded the government through March. However, after Musk urged GOP lawmakers to oppose the bill, Johnson, sensing he wouldn’t have enough support from his own party, scrapped the legislation, and put up a new spending bill without Democratic Party input. That bill also failed to pass after Democrats in the House voted against it, with dozens of Republicans opposing the bill, albeit for different ideological reasons.
Never miss another story
Get the news you want, delivered to your inbox every day.
Email*
Musk’s influence within the Republican Party is so inviolable that some in the GOP have actually called for him to replace Johnson as Speaker of the House. Musk and Trump have said that Republicans who do not support the spending bills they endorse should be primaried out of their seats in the 2026 midterm elections. Musk has also said that he’s not opposed to shutting down the government until Trump is inaugurated in mid-January.
“Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, is threatening to unseat elected officials if they do not follow his orders to shut down the government during the holidays,” Sanders noted in a recent social media post. “Are we still a democracy or have we already moved to oligarchy and authoritarianism?”
Sanders Warns Trump Is a Fascist Who May Let Musk Control the Presidency
Sanders’s warning comes the same day as the Tesla CEO is scheduled to headline a Trump rally in Madison Square Garden. By Olivia Rosane , CommonDreamsOctober 27, 2024
In an earlier post, Sanders derided Musk as being an oligarch who Republicans adhered to.
“The US Congress this week came to an agreement to fund our government. Elon Musk, who became $200 BILLION richer since Trump was elected, objected,” Sanders wrote. “Are Republicans beholden to the American people? Or President Musk? This is oligarchy at work.”
Hours after Sanders’s comments, Musk signaled his support for a neo-fascist political party in Gemarny’s February elections.
In a post on his social media site X, Musk endorsed Alternative for Germany (AfD), a far right, anti-immigrant and antisemitic party that is gaining popularity among conservative Germans.
“Only the AfD can save Germany,” the billionaire wrote.
Musk has previously endorsed other far right figures in Europe, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and United Kingdom Reform party leader Nigel Farage.
Musk has tried to normalize AfD’s views in the past, claiming they “don’t sound extremist” to him and questioning if he was “missing something.”
AfD is vehemently anti-immigration, particularly with regard to Muslims, calling for a “net zero” number of immigrants entering Germany in the coming years. Leaders of the party have repeatedly made racist and antisemitic statements, emphasizing a need to return to a German “identity” and pushing other white nationalist views; AfD leader Alexander Gauland, for example, has described immigration to the country as an “invasion of foreigners” that he and his party intend to fight off.
The party has also called for changes to how Nazi Germany is depicted in historical settings, such as monuments, schools and museums, with Gauland once minimizing the country’s Nazi history as being no more than “just a speck of bird’s muck.” Other AfD members have denied Nazi wrongdoing, including by describing the Holocaust as a “myth.”
Musk’s public support for AfD is just the latest example of the billionaire sharing reactionary viewpoints on X. Musk has, for example, called for the deportation of protesters utilizing the First Amendment to express views he disagrees with. He has also promoted antisemitic, anti-Muslim, transphobic and other bigoted content on his profile, and has shared content denying the Holocaust.
Novelist and political commentator Patrick S. Tomlinson has said that Musk’s support for AfD is illuminating.
“The AfD is Germany’s neo-Nazi party,” Tomlinson wrote on Bluesky. “They are anti-immigration, anti-EU, and unapologetically pro-Putin. The German courts have labeled the entire party extremist. Elon Musk has gone fully mask off.”
Commentator Paul Krugman also weighed in on Musk’s latest endorsement, noting that the billionaire’s statement was “obviously where he was going.”
When it comes to fascist sentiments, Musk “isn’t hiding it at all,” Krugman added.
Erik De La Garza
December 20, 2024
Donald Trump and Elon Musk watch the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket in Brownsville, Texas, U.S., November 19, 2024
. Brandon Bell/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Tech billionaire Elon Musk’s increasing influence – not just in the United States as a close ally of the incoming president – but around the world is helping to fuel Russia’s war on democracy and mirrors tactics pulled from Vladimir Putin’s playbook, foreign policy researcher Olga Lautman warned Friday.
Using a “strategy of strategic chaos,” and armed with his “immense wealth” and ownership of the social media platform X, Musk has morphed into “an active agent of influence” that he uses “to undermine Western unity and destabilize democratic institutions,” Lautman wrote on her Substack page.
Lautman told readers on Friday that Musk’s endorsement via X of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is another sign of his growing influence in Europe. She urged Democrats to investigate Musk’s “ties to Moscow, his access to U.S. government contracts, and his security clearance.”
“Musk’s meddling extends beyond tweets, with secretive ties and calls to Putin and full control over Trump as he assumes the role of acting president-elect,” Lautman wrote. “By amplifying nationalist agendas, dismantling democratic norms, and aligning with authoritarian figures, Musk’s actions mirror Russia’s playbook for destabilizing Western democracies and advancing its geopolitical goals."
She continued to sound the alarm in stark detail in her article, writing that the actions of the SpaceX and Tesla owner – who was largely seen as effectively tanking the first negotiated congressional spending bill on Wednesday by way of yet another social media post on his platform – benefits one central player: Russia.
“Moscow stands to gain from the erosion of Western democratic institutions and the global rise of the far-right,” she wrote. The researcher added that Musk’s access to U.S. security clearance and numerous government contracts “only deepens the gravity of his actions, as he exploits his position to weaken the very systems that uphold democracy."
“This is nothing short of insanity,” according to Laudman, a senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis and a senior investigative researcher at the Institute for European Integrity.
She concluded her piece by warning readers that Musk’s growing influence is “increasingly alarming” and that his agenda aligns with “longstanding Kremlin goals of weakening America’s intelligence and security apparatus, as he runs disinformation and destabilization tactics designed to erode trust in public institutions.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk’s increasing influence – not just in the United States as a close ally of the incoming president – but around the world is helping to fuel Russia’s war on democracy and mirrors tactics pulled from Vladimir Putin’s playbook, foreign policy researcher Olga Lautman warned Friday.
Using a “strategy of strategic chaos,” and armed with his “immense wealth” and ownership of the social media platform X, Musk has morphed into “an active agent of influence” that he uses “to undermine Western unity and destabilize democratic institutions,” Lautman wrote on her Substack page.
Lautman told readers on Friday that Musk’s endorsement via X of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is another sign of his growing influence in Europe. She urged Democrats to investigate Musk’s “ties to Moscow, his access to U.S. government contracts, and his security clearance.”
“Musk’s meddling extends beyond tweets, with secretive ties and calls to Putin and full control over Trump as he assumes the role of acting president-elect,” Lautman wrote. “By amplifying nationalist agendas, dismantling democratic norms, and aligning with authoritarian figures, Musk’s actions mirror Russia’s playbook for destabilizing Western democracies and advancing its geopolitical goals."
She continued to sound the alarm in stark detail in her article, writing that the actions of the SpaceX and Tesla owner – who was largely seen as effectively tanking the first negotiated congressional spending bill on Wednesday by way of yet another social media post on his platform – benefits one central player: Russia.
“Moscow stands to gain from the erosion of Western democratic institutions and the global rise of the far-right,” she wrote. The researcher added that Musk’s access to U.S. security clearance and numerous government contracts “only deepens the gravity of his actions, as he exploits his position to weaken the very systems that uphold democracy."
“This is nothing short of insanity,” according to Laudman, a senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis and a senior investigative researcher at the Institute for European Integrity.
She concluded her piece by warning readers that Musk’s growing influence is “increasingly alarming” and that his agenda aligns with “longstanding Kremlin goals of weakening America’s intelligence and security apparatus, as he runs disinformation and destabilization tactics designed to erode trust in public institutions.
'Butter knife to a gun fight': Disinfo researcher claims nefarious link with Trump and Musk
Elon Musk on November 1, 2024 (Wikimedia Commons)
Elon Musk on November 1, 2024 (Wikimedia Commons)
December 20, 2024
ALTERNET
With a Saturday, December 21 deadline just around the corner, the United States' federal government appeared to be heading for a shutdown.
Bills that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) supported failed to pass, and some Democrats believed that President-elect Donald Trump and Tesla/Space-X CEO Elon Musk were causing chaos in the House.
In a December 20 post on X, formerly Twitter, journalist Dave Troy accused "Moscow" of promoting dysfunction on Capitol Hill.
Troy tweeted, "Folks think Musk and Trump are engaged in politics, but this is a military operation being executed out of Moscow. If you are playing politics right now, you literally have brought a butter knife to a gun fight."
In a separate tweet posted the same day, Troy argued that Republicans go out of their way to cause "dysfunction."
The Washington Post's Drew Harwell, on X, slammed Republicans who, he said, "make light" of the hardships a shutdown would cause — including Fox News' Sean Hannity and radio host Ben Shapiro, who said a shutdown is "not that big a deal."
In response, Troy tweeted, "The dysfunction and cruelty are the goal. It's a feature not a bug, etc."
December 20 was not the first time Troy accused Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin of encouraging political instability in the United States.
On December 13, Troy tweeted an article he wrote for America2.News and wrote."
Troy posted, "EXCLUSIVE: The Kremlin's 'Project Russia' poses a potent framework for mobilizing illiberal forces against the United States and its allies — and it's all but unknown to Western analysts. We must act to counter it."
On December 19, Democratic strategist Jon Cooper tweeted, "Wow! One GOP lobbyist just told me he thinks Elon is really the one who’s calling the shots — not Trump." And Troy responded, "lol no s—t.'
With a Saturday, December 21 deadline just around the corner, the United States' federal government appeared to be heading for a shutdown.
Bills that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) supported failed to pass, and some Democrats believed that President-elect Donald Trump and Tesla/Space-X CEO Elon Musk were causing chaos in the House.
In a December 20 post on X, formerly Twitter, journalist Dave Troy accused "Moscow" of promoting dysfunction on Capitol Hill.
Troy tweeted, "Folks think Musk and Trump are engaged in politics, but this is a military operation being executed out of Moscow. If you are playing politics right now, you literally have brought a butter knife to a gun fight."
In a separate tweet posted the same day, Troy argued that Republicans go out of their way to cause "dysfunction."
The Washington Post's Drew Harwell, on X, slammed Republicans who, he said, "make light" of the hardships a shutdown would cause — including Fox News' Sean Hannity and radio host Ben Shapiro, who said a shutdown is "not that big a deal."
In response, Troy tweeted, "The dysfunction and cruelty are the goal. It's a feature not a bug, etc."
December 20 was not the first time Troy accused Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin of encouraging political instability in the United States.
On December 13, Troy tweeted an article he wrote for America2.News and wrote."
Troy posted, "EXCLUSIVE: The Kremlin's 'Project Russia' poses a potent framework for mobilizing illiberal forces against the United States and its allies — and it's all but unknown to Western analysts. We must act to counter it."
On December 19, Democratic strategist Jon Cooper tweeted, "Wow! One GOP lobbyist just told me he thinks Elon is really the one who’s calling the shots — not Trump." And Troy responded, "lol no s—t.'
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