BERLIN: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned Elon Musk’s “erratic” comments and his open support for the extreme-right AfD party in an interview published on Saturday.

The world’s wealthiest man — who owns social media platform X — has in a string of posts attacked several European leaders and ruffled feathers on the continent.

Asked about interference by Musk — who last month called Scholz an “incompetent fool” before calling the German president an “anti-democratic tyrant” — the chancellor told Stern magazine it was important “to keep calm” ahead of Germany’s snap elections on February 23.

“In Germany, everything is proceeding according to the wishes of our citizens and not the erratic comments of an American billionaire,” he told the magazine in an interview.

Scholz said public support from the ever-more-powerful Musk for the far-right AfD was “much more problematic than these insults”.

The Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is polling in second place behind the conservatives, “advocates closer links with Putin’s Russia and wants to weaken trans-Atlantic ties”, Scholz said.

The extreme-right party acknowledged this week it was in regular contact with the entourage of South African-born Musk, who is due on January 9 to host a conversation on X with AfD leader Alice Weidel.

Asked if he personally wished to debate with the 53-year-old owner of Tesla and SpaceX, Scholz said: “I don’t think it necessary to seek Mr Musk’s favours.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2025