Woke mind virus infected people: Musk hosts Germany's far-right party chief on X

Elon Musk endorsed Germany's far-right AfD party during a broadcast on X, urging voters to support Alice Weidel in the February election. Musk criticised Germany's energy policies and bureaucracy, drawing backlash from European leaders.

In Short

• Elon Musk urged Germans to support AfD in the upcoming election
• Musk and Alice Weidel criticised Germany's energy policies and education system
• Musk's support for AfD drew criticism from European leaders

Tech titan Elon Musk called on German voters to support the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the upcoming national election during a broadcast on his social media platform, X, on Friday. Musk hosted the conversation with Alice Weidel, the party’s chancellor candidate, introducing her as “the leading candidate to run Germany,” though he mispronounced her surname as “Veedle.”

“Welcome to the conversation with Alice Weidel, who is currently the leading candidate to run Germany, I think,” Musk said during the broadcast.

The discussion covered a range of topics, including energy policy and Germany’s business regulations. Musk and Weidel criticised what they described as excessive bureaucracy and “crazy” energy policies, agreeing that the country’s decision to phase out nuclear power plants was misguided.

“When I saw that Germany was turning off the power plants after being cut off from gas supplies from Russia, I thought ... this is one of the craziest things I've ever seen,” Musk said.

Weidel criticised Germany’s education system. “We have this insane, wokeish, socialist, leftist agenda in our educational system. So, the young people, they don’t learn anything in school, university,” Weidel said. “They just learn about gender studies,” she added.

Musk responded by comparing the situation to broader cultural trends. “It sounds like the woke mind virus has infected Germany quite badly,” he said.

Weidel expressed her appreciation for the opportunity to speak on Musk’s platform, saying it was her first chance in a decade to present her views without interruption. “People love to censor things they don’t agree with,” Musk responded.

Musk also voiced strong support for the AfD, urging Germans to back the party. “People really need to get behind AfD, otherwise things are going to get very, very much worse in Germany,” he said. “I think Alice Weidel is a very reasonable person. Nothing outrageous is being proposed,” he added.

The AfD, an anti-immigration party labelled as right-wing extremist by German security agencies, is polling second ahead of Germany’s national election on February 23, news agency Reuters reported.

Musk’s comments have drawn criticism across Europe. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez accused him of undermining democracy, while France’s foreign minister urged the European Union to strengthen protections against external interference.

Musk and Weidel also discussed the challenges Musk faced in opening Tesla’s first European factory in Germany in 2022. “I think it was 25,000 pages was our permit. And it had to be all printed on paper,” Musk said. “And then there has to be many, many copies made. So it literally was a truck of paper,” he added.