Billionaire Elon Musk made a surprise appearance via video link at an election event for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the eastern city of Halle on Saturday. Days before the world marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, Musk said that in Germany "there is too much focus on past guilt, and we need to move beyond that." He said that "children should not be guilty of the sins of their parents, let alone their great grandparents," apparently referring to Germany's Nazi past.
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Musk addresses far-right AfD party members via video link
(Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Speaking to an audience of 4,500 people, alongside party leader Alice Weidel, Musk added: "We need to look at the future of Germany with optimism and enthusiasm. It's important to be proud of these German culture and values. It's about preserving German culture and protecting the German people. Convince people to vote AfD. Its (the party's) policies make sense."
Musk, who also spoke of suppression of speech under Germany's government, has previously attacked German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on X.
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ElonMusk makes a gesture reminiscent of the Nazi salute at Donald Trump's inauguration
(Photo: Mike Segar/Reuters)
Earlier this week, the American billionaire caused a stir after Donald Trump was sworn in as U.S. president. At the end of Musk's speech during the festivities he was filmed making a gesture reminiscent of the Nazi salute. Many were shocked by the disturbing gesture and accused Musk of fascism and antisemitism, with some even claiming that "now the real Musk is starting to emerge."
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended Musk. "Elon Musk is being falsely smeared," Netanyahu wrote in a tweet on the X platform, which Musk owns. "Elon is a great friend of Israel. He visited Israel after the October 7 massacre in which Hamas terrorists committed the worst atrocity against the Jewish people since the Holocaust. He has since repeatedly and forcefully supported Israel’s right to defend itself against genocidal terrorists and regimes who seek to annihilate the one and only Jewish state. I thank him for this."