{"id":314009,"date":"2025-08-03T08:01:35","date_gmt":"2025-08-03T08:01:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/314009\/"},"modified":"2025-08-03T08:01:35","modified_gmt":"2025-08-03T08:01:35","slug":"elon-musk-tells-germanys-far-right-afd-its-the-best-hope-for-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/314009\/","title":{"rendered":"Elon Musk tells Germany’s far-right AfD it’s the ‘best hope for the future’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tens of thousands of Germans have rallied against the far-right ahead of next month’s legislative elections, as US tech billionaire Elon Musk again endorsed the far-right Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) party.<\/p>\n

Mr Musk, speaking by video link on Saturday, told thousands of AfD supporters gathered in the eastern city of Halle that their party was “the best hope for the future of Germany”.<\/p>\n

“It’s good to be proud of German culture, German values, and not to lose that in some sort of multiculturalism that dilutes everything,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mr Musk said.<\/p>\n

AfD supporters at the rally shouted their approval as party co-leader Alice Weidel looked on smiling.<\/p>\n

Behind the rise of Germany’s far right<\/a><\/p>\n

Far-right party Alternative for Germany is running second in national polls. Here’s how it got there.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, protesters against the AfD turned out in cities across Germany.<\/p>\n

The largest gatherings took place in Berlin and Cologne, with police revising their turnout figures upwards to 35,000 and 40,000 respectively.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Organisers in Berlin claimed that 100,000 people attended the protests in the capital.<\/p>\n

The protesters there used their mobile phones to form “a sea of light for democracy” in front of the Brandenburg Gate, brandishing letters forming the words “Hope and Resistance”.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Organisers claimed 100,000 people attended protests against the far-right party.\u00a0 (Reuters: Liesa Johannssen)<\/p>\n

AfD is polling at about 20 per cent ahead of Germany’s February 23 elections \u2014 a record for a party that has already shattered a decades-old taboo in post-war Germany against supporting the far right.<\/p>\n

The mainstream conservative CDU\/CSU alliance leads on about 30 per cent, with CDU leader Friedrich Merz the favourite to become chancellor after the elections.<\/p>\n

Protests across Germany<\/p>\n

Mr Musk, who has integrated himself into Trump’s administration, told the AfD rally: “I think this election coming up in Germany is incredibly important.”<\/p>\n

“I think it could decide the entire fate of Europe, maybe the fate of the world.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Activists take part in a demonstration against AfD at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. (Reuters: Liesa Johannssen)<\/p>\n

Mr Musk has rattled European politicians in recent weeks with comments on his social platform X supporting AfD and far-right politicians in other countries, including Britain.<\/p>\n

He also drew attention this week for making a public gesture some observers interpreted as a straight-armed Nazi salute, a claim he himself dismissed as a smear.<\/p>\n

Like Mr Trump, the AfD opposes immigration, denies climate change, rails against gender politics and has declared war on a political establishment and mainstream media it claims limit free speech.<\/p>\n

The anti-AfD rallies took place in some 60 towns following calls from a variety of organisations, attracting more people than the police had initially expected.<\/p>\n

Did Elon Musk make a Nazi or Roman salute, and what do they each mean?<\/a><\/p>\n

There is debate about what gesture the tech billionaire meant to make at the Capital arena on Monday. Here’s what people are saying.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The CDU’s Mr Merz also came in for criticism.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Many protesters fear he is tempted to break his party’s policy of refusing to enter into coalition talks with the AfD.<\/p>\n

There was also a protest in the southern city of Aschaffenbourg, where a deadly knife attack this week by an Afghan migrant further inflamed the debate over immigration.<\/p>\n

Several thousand also turned out in the eastern city of Halle, where the AfD rally was addressed by Mr Musk, leading to a few incidents.<\/p>\n

Halle police said they had opened criminal investigations for offences including assault, insults and disrupting traffic.<\/p>\n

Ms Weidel told her rally that migrants in Germany had to be sent home.<\/p>\n

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