{"id":51881,"date":"2025-04-26T10:33:19","date_gmt":"2025-04-26T10:33:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/51881\/"},"modified":"2025-04-26T10:33:19","modified_gmt":"2025-04-26T10:33:19","slug":"german-senator-brands-tesla-a-nazi-car","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/51881\/","title":{"rendered":"German senator brands Tesla a ‘Nazi car’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" <\/p>\n

Senator Cansel Kiziltepe (center) pictured at an LGBTQ+ event in July 2023 in Berlin, Germany. \u00a9\u00a0 Tristar Media\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Social democrat Cansel Kiziltepe has linked a slump in the car maker\u2019s sales to CEO Elon Musk\u2019s \u201cfar-right positions\u201d Senator Cansel Kiziltepe (center) pictured at an LGBTQ+ event in July 2023 in Berlin, Germany. \u00a9 Tristar Media\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

A Berlin senator has branded Elon Musk\u2019s Tesla a \u201cNazi car,\u201d while commenting on the company\u2019s declining sales. Social democrat Cansel Kiziltepe attacked the electric vehicle maker in a now-deleted post on X on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Musk has faced criticism in the EU for his perceived right-wing political views. He was condemned in Germany for endorsing the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, and in the wider EU for being a close ally of US President Donald Trump, whose policies on issues such as diversity and the Ukraine conflict do not align with those of Brussels.<\/p>\n

Musk in turn has accused the EU of censorship, bureaucratic overreach, and economic harm, often framing the bloc\u2019s policies as stifling free speech and national autonomy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho wants to drive a Nazi car? Electric car manufacturers are experiencing a sales boom \u2013 apart from Tesla,\u201d Kiziltepe, a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the senator for labour, social affairs, equality, integration, diversity and anti-discrimination of the state of Berlin, wrote on X.<\/p>\n

\"Musk \"Musk <\/p>\n

The post drew sharp criticism from officials in the neighboring state of Brandenburg, home to Tesla\u2019s only car factory in Europe. Brandenburg\u2019s minister-president, Dietmar Woidke, slammed it as being \u201ccompletely out of place,\u201d while the state\u2019s economic minister, Daniel Keller, demanded that Kiziltepe retract her statement.<\/p>\n

The post has since been deleted, although Kiziltepe has defended her position, stating on X on Friday that she \u201cexpressly stands\u201d by her assessment of Musk, and linking Tesla\u2019s slump in sales to \u201cthe far-right positions\u201d of its CEO.<\/p>\n

In the first quarter of this year, Tesla vehicle deliveries dropped globally by 13% year-on-year, automotive revenue slumped 20% and net income plunged by 71%.<\/p>\n

Tesla\u2019s Gigafactory near Berlin was targeted by protesters earlier this year when the word \u201cheil\u201d was seen projected onto its wall next to the automaker\u2019s logo, spelling the message \u201cHeil Tesla.\u201d During a campaign ceremony marking Trump\u2019s inauguration in January, Musk made a gesture that his critics interpreted as a Nazi \u201cSieg Heil\u201d salute. Musk dismissed the accusations as politically motivated.<\/p>\n

The billionaire has previously voiced his support of Germany\u2019s right-wing AfD, a rival to the ruling SPD. Outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz called Musk\u2019s backing of the AfD \u201cdisgusting.\u201d Economic Minister Robert Habeck also accused the entrepreneur of launching a \u201cfrontal attack\u201d on democracy.<\/p>\n

The AfD secured 20.8% of the vote in the German federal election in February, becoming the country\u2019s second-largest party. Immigration and economic discontent were cited as among the key factors behind the party\u2019s success. (RT)<\/p>\n

Az\u0259rbaycan24 sosial \u015f\u0259b\u0259k\u0259l\u0259rd\u0259 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Senator Cansel Kiziltepe (center) pictured at an LGBTQ+ event in July 2023 in Berlin, Germany. \u00a9\u00a0 Tristar Media\/Getty…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51882,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5310],"tags":[2000,299,1824,5598,1757,657],"class_list":{"0":"post-51881","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-germany","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-germany","11":"tag-the","12":"tag-trump","13":"tag-ukraine"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114403816528205138","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}