Summary
Elon Musk livestreamed a conversation with Alice Weidel, co-leader of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, on his platform X, endorsing her and urging support for the AfD ahead of Germany’s February 23 election.
The livestream, which drew over 200,000 viewers, raised concerns across Europe about Musk’s influence in foreign politics.
AfD, under observation for extremism, has gained popularity amid discontent with Chancellor Scholz’s government.
Musk’s promotion of Weidel and controversial remarks on other European issues are being monitored for violations of the EU’s Digital Services Act.
I’m sorry, but are you serious? That is quite literally what the AfD does! https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67948861.amp
“Much discussion allegedly focused on so-called “remigration” - the removal of people with non-German ethnic backgrounds, even if they are citizens of Germany.”
Do you not see how this is a far cry from a civil discussion about who enters the country and pretty fucking close to a pogrom? They want people born here, people with German citizenship out of the country because of their ethnicity. And it’s not like this is secret information. People know about it when they vote for AfD. Three regional AfD chapters in the states of Thuringia, Saxony, and Saxony-Anhalt have already been reclassified as proven right-wing extremist by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV).
I would also argue that democracy in Germany did indeed not survive the first half of the 20th century, in part due to populism and media propaganda.
I can see your problems with Islam. But feel free to ask the majority of AfD-Voters what they think of homosexuals and start to wonder they wouldn’t match with the views of Grey Wolfs just fine…
I was asking quite specifically “who” because it is not an official policy of the AfD. There are certainly large racist elements in AfD but I do not believe all of their voters are frothing at the mouth irrational xenophobes. The voting public are generally less ideologically committed than the parties they end up voting for (again, notwithstanding that there are certianly racists among them). And this is the tragedy of the current discourse; one cannot currently question the wisdom of allowing conservative islam populations into the country without being accused of being “extreme” and of being far more to the right than one actually is. The result is that moderate politicians find the discussion unsafe and have deserted the popluation who are, in no small measure, concerned about the unchecked immigration of those who favour violence as a response to criticism of the prophet muhammad and would in large part remain silent if an associate expressed the desire to engage in terrorism* (The research in this area is UK based but I don’t think it’s unfair to consider muslim immigrants to the UK and Germany as being largely similar)
The shunning of any talk of “cultural superiority” in polite, liberal, university educated society is what results in the only people talking about it being the far right, and then in exaggerated, fantastical terms. It is trivial for them to pull a veneer of respectability over their possible true intentions (as the AfD are no doubt doing), the result of which is they win votes. And a country that could have had more moderate solutions ends up sliding into insanity.
All because there is an overreaction any time someone suggests that immigration should be controlled on the basis of a persons views or religion or that ones ongoing immigrant status should be conditional on one’s behaviour or assocation. Instead a country ends up with little control in this area and the rise of extreme parties that begin to suggest the only solution is to deport generations of migrants…
Banning such parties will not change anything. Starting to talk in moderate terms about how immigration might be far slower and more discriminating is the only thing that will rob the far right extreme parties of their saviour narrative.
* https://www.channel4.com/press/news/c4-survey-and-documentary-reveals-what-british-muslims-really-think