Olaf Scholz has hit back at JD Vance and Elon Musk for expressing support for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Germany ahead of its national election next week.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, JD Vance urged German politicians to let the far right party into government.
After the speech, Olaf Scholz declared that it was “not appropriate for outsiders to intervene in our democracy” as the Tesla chief also continues to publicly support the AfD.
Ahead of polls opening on February 23, Scholz said: “We decide what happens next with our democracy.
“A commitment to ‘never again’ is not reconcilable with support for the AfD,” Scholz said this morning
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“It is not appropriate for outsiders to intervene in our democracy and in our elections in favour of the AfD – especially not among friends and allies. We firmly reject that!”
The German Chancellor said that Vance’s words violated Germany’s commitment to never be allowed to be led by fascists who might repeat the horrific past of the Holocaust.
“A commitment to ‘never again’ is not reconcilable with support for the AfD,” Scholz said this morning.
He went on to accuse the AfD of belittling the atrocities caused by the Nazis and insisted that his government would not be led by “outsiders”.
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Scholz’s statement followed a warning from election frontrunner Friedrich Merz that Musk would face consequences for “meddling” in the election campaign, if he were to win.
“What happened in this election campaign cannot go unchallenged,” opposition leader Merz told the Wall Street Journal.
“It can be a political response. It can be a legal response. I want to analyse this calmly after this election campaign,” he said.
The X boss has consistently supported the AfD and criticised Scholz’s record as Chancellor.
Musk has consistently supported the AfD and criticised Scholz’s record as Chancellor
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Last month, he urged a crowd of 4,000 supporters to “move beyond past guilt” at a rally in the German city of Halle when he appeared via video link.
“I think you really are the best hope for Germany,” Musk said, addressing the attendees.
He said: “It’s good to be proud of German culture and German values, and not to lose that in some sort of multiculturalism that dilutes everything.”
As it stands, there is “frankly too much of a focus on past guilt and we need to move beyond that”, according to the head of President Trump’s Department for Government Efficiency (Doge).
While the crowds erupted in cheers, Musk said: “Children should not be guilty of the sins of their parents, let alone their grandparents, their great-grandparents.”
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