A new poll has shown that the majority of Germans believe that American billionaire Elon Musk’s support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has had a positive impact on the party’s position before the February 23 snap election.
The YouGov research institute conducted the poll at the dpa agency‘s request.
According to its data, 59% of respondents believe that the X network owner Elon Musk’s support has benefited the AfD, while only 4% believe that it has harmed the party.
Meanwhile, 24% of respondents observed no effect, and 13% expressed uncertainty.
At the same time, the poll also shows that many Germans do not expect Musk’s comments to have a significant impact on the upcoming German election campaign.
According to half of the respondents (50%), Musk’s influence will be minimal, and 13% said he would have no influence at all. Instead, 27% believe that his influence will be significant.
The majority of respondents (68%) doubt Musk’s ability to influence the political situation in Germany, while only 21% believe he can do so.
Regarding foreign influence on domestic politics, 63% of participants said they would support at least partial regulation of social media to prevent such interference.
The study, which surveyed 2,246 people aged 18 and older between January 3 and 6, has a maximum margin of error of approximately 2.07 percentage points.
Elon Musk publicly claims that “only the AfD can save Germany.” This far-right party is considered potentially extremist in Germany.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his concern about Musk’s support for Alternative for Germany a few weeks before the snap election.
Scholz said that he was not bothered by the American billionaire’s personal attacks on him and other German politicians. But Musk’s support for the far-right Alternative for Germany party is of much greater concern to him.
“What worries me much more than such insults is that Musk is campaigning for an extreme right-wing party like the AfD, which preaches rapprochement with Putin’s Russia and wants to weaken transatlantic relations,” the German chancellor added.
Musk called Scholz a “fool” and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier an “undemocratic tyrant” on his X account.
“The federal president is not an anti-democratic tyrant, and Germany is a strong and stable democracy. Musk can say what he wants. In Germany, the will of the citizens is important, not the unstable statements of a US billionaire,” Scholz said.
The German Chancellor also stated that he did not want to invite Musk to a meeting in his office.
“I don’t think about winning Mr. Musk’s favor. I’m pleased to leave that to others. There are a lot of people on social media who want to attract attention with flashy slogans. The rule is: Don’t feed the troll,” Scholz added.
Alice Weidel, a candidate for chancellor from the far-right and pro-Russian Alternative for Germany, will hold an online conversation with Musk on his social network X (Twitter).
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