European leaders are reacting as billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk is increasingly weighing in on European political debates.
Musk, the wealthiest man in the world, has substantially grown his political influence in recent years. Since purchasing Twitter in 2022, he’s gained a powerful bullhorn and has welcomed many once-marginalized dissident voices back onto the social media platform, renamed X.
After backing President-elect Donald Trump in the soon-to-be 47th president’s successful 2024 campaign, Musk has begun to test his influence on the other side of the Atlantic.
Musk’s forays into European political issues have become more frequent and more contentious in recent weeks.
Musk also defended the AfD against charges of extremism in his Dec. 28 op-ed.
“Portraying the AfD as far-right is clearly false.” he wrote.
Musk’s support for the AfD has drawn German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and U.S. Vice President-elect J.D. Vance into the debate. In an interview with the German news magazine Stern, Scholz expressed alarm at Musk’s affinity for the party, which he said seeks improved relations with Russia and threatens transatlantic relations.
At a Jan. 6 press conference, Starmer defended his record as a prosecutor and vowed his government would continue to support victims of child sexual abuse. He said he welcomed dialogue on the issue, but insisted he would not tolerate “discussion and debate based on lies.”
An Outside Influence
Nigel Farage, a member of parliament in the UK and leader of the right-wing populist Reform UK Party, said last month that he had discussed taking in a donation from Musk.The UK has restrictions on campaign donations, limiting contributions to UK voters or companies registered in Britain. The social media platform X has a UK office that could open a path for Musk to support Farage’s party.
Starmer spokesman Dave Pares has said the UK’s Labour Party is seeking to “reinforce existing safeguards” against “impermissible proxy donations.”
Other European leaders have also begun to raise concerns about foreign political influence.
“Who could have imagined, 10 years ago, that the owner of one of the world’s largest social networks would intervene directly in elections, including in Germany?” French President Emmanuel Macron said on Jan. 6.
On the same day, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre argued for confining Musk’s political influence to the United States.
“This is not the way things should be between democracies and allies.”
Macron and Scholz are also on the back foot.
Jacob Reynolds, the head of policy at European political think tank MCC Brussels, said it’s no coincidence leaders such as Scholz, Macron, and Støre are among the most vocally opposed to Musk’s recent foray into European politics.
“They recognize that the narratives that they’ve used to legitimate themselves over the last decade or so, or more, have been seriously called into question. And from European country to European country, voters are rejecting those kinds of tired ways of doing things and establishment politics,” Reynolds said in a phone interview with The Epoch Times.
While there are differences between the political debates in the United States and Europe, Reynolds said Europeans shouldn’t dismiss Musk simply because he’s an outsider. Reynolds noted similar concerns over immigration, environmental policy, and economic stagnation have emerged on both sides of the Atlantic.
“That’s why populism across the Western world shares many similar features. So it’s not unsurprising that, if you were part of the kind of populist MAGA movement revolution in America you would look to Europe and think, ‘Hey, we’ve got some common cause with these people,’” he said.
An Uneasy Partnership
While conservative and populist movements across Europe might appreciate Musk elevating their message, it may not be an easy partnership.Farage has suggested that the breakdown was over a disagreement about Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, a British social media influencer and political activist who goes by Tommy Robinson.
Lois Perry, executive director of the Heartland Institute’s UK and Europe branch, said conservative and populist voices movements in the UK have appreciated Musk bringing added public attention to the grooming gangs. But Perry, a personal friend of Farage, said she was disappointed by Musk’s criticism of the Reform UK Party leader.
“I wasn’t overjoyed about him making the comments that he made about Nigel Farage,” Perry said in a phone interview with The Epoch Times.
“Bearing in mind that he has changed his mind and switched who he'd choose in terms of political leaders before, we shouldn’t get too hung up on who Mr. Musk is endorsing on that particular day,” she said.
Perry expressed some optimism that Musk and Farage will be able to mend their relationship going forward.
Reynolds said Musk floats between a wide range of topics and that in his excitement at engaging with novel issues, he doesn’t always have the best filter for sorting out fact from fiction. While Musk can bring attention to important issues, Reynolds cautioned against Europeans relying too heavily on Musk for a perfect understanding of the issue, or for a solution.
“No outsider can save us in Europe,” he said. “We have a series of challenges, which I’ve already described, and it’s only going to be through developing political alternatives and decent intellectuals and all the rest of it, and media figures in Europe, in our different European countries, that we can hope to have a handle on the problems that face us.”
