London – On Saturday, Elon Musk made a surprise appearance in a video for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AFD), during which he told a crowd of about 4,500 AFD supporters that “children should not be guilty of the sins of their parents, let alone their great-grandmothers.” in an apparent reference to Nazi Germany just two days before Holocaust Remembrance Day. AFD, which was in Musk Previously expressed his supportwas flagged as a suspected extremist organization by Germany's national security services.
“There is too much focus on past guilt and we need to move beyond that,” Musk said, adding that he saw the anti-immigration, anti-cultural integration party as “Germany's best hope.”
“It's good to be proud of German culture, German values, and not lose it in some kind of multiculturalism that dilutes everything,” said Musk, who became Close the ally and Advisor to President Trump.
The remarks come days after Musk's “awkward gesture.”
His remarks came just days after police in Germany said they were investigating the projection of large-scale images of Musk making a gesture reminiscent of a Nazi salute at a Tesla factory outside Berlin. Musk made the gesture twice at an inauguration event for President Trump earlier last week.
A UK campaign group and a German satirical group took responsibility for the predictions.
Any display of Nazi symbols is against federal law in Germany. Musk didn't outright deny giving the Nazi salute, but he mocked critics of the gesture in a post on X, saying: “Honestly, they need better dirty tricks. The 'Hitler' attack is 'so tired.'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended Musk, calling him a friend of the Jewish people and dismissed criticism that the tech mogul had been “falsely smeared.”
In the US, the League Against the Amendment, which tracks anti-Semitism, called Musk's actions an “awkward gesture” but said it was “not a Nazi salute.”
In 2023, Musk threatened to sue the ADL for defamation after the organization allegedly asserted its own Platform X allowed the spread of anti-Semitism.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk speaking a day before his nation welcomed survivors 80 years since liberation From the infamous Nazi death camp Auschwitz, condemned Musk's remarks over the weekend to the AfD.
“The words we heard from the main actors of the AFD rally about a 'greater Germany' and the need to forget German guilt in Nazi crimes sounded all too familiar and ominous,” Tusk said on social media on Sunday. “Especially just a few hours before the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.”
On Monday, as people gathered for a solemn memorial service in Auschwitz, Tusk said in a new post that “the whole world must hear these words again: never again! We must not forget the tragic lesson of our past. Evil, violence and violence and the Persecution are not can win again under any circumstances!
The German government says Musk is helping, as AFD's support for AFD has established
Germany is expected to go to the polls in February, after Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote and his ruling coalition collapsed. AFD, which recently became the first far-right party Win the state election Since the Nazi era has seen a surge in support.
After Musk's remarks on Saturday, AFD leader Alice Weidel thanked him and told the crowd: “Let's make Germany great again.”
Late last year, the German government accused Musk of trying to influence the country's February election when he published an op-ed in a local newspaper supporting the AfD.
“It's true that Elon Musk is trying to influence the federal election,” a government spokesman said on social media at the time, though the spokesman said it also covers the biggest nonsense.
contributed to this report.