German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has shared his approach to dealing with tech mogul Elon Musk, who has recently been in a heated spat with German politicians, saying it's important not to “feed the trolls.” Said it was wise.
“There are a lot of people on social media who want to get attention with clever slogans,” Scholz said in an interview with the German magazine Stern. published Saturday.
“I don't believe in doing Mr. Musk's favor,” he added. “You can leave that to someone else.”
“As a Social Democrat, I am used to the fact that there are rich media entrepreneurs who do not value Social Democratic politics and do not hide their opinions,” Scholz emphasized.
The comments to the German current affairs magazine come as the German leader has had a back-and-forth with Musk, a tech billionaire and close ally of President-elect Trump, in recent weeks.
Musk was selected by President Trump to head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) along with Vivek Ramaswamy. vandalized The German leader called himself “Auf Schitz” on his social media platforms and predicted that he would “defeat” the next parliamentary elections, scheduled for February 23.
Mr. Musk criticized Mr. Scholz after he wrote an op-ed in Germany's Welt am Sonntag newspaper in late December, supporting Alternative for Germany (AfD), Germany's far-right party led by Alice Weidel. This was immediately after he announced his strong support for the
In an op-ed published days after Musk endorsed the party, SpaceX executives said Germany's economy was being hurt by bureaucracy and overregulation. He also supported the party's immigration proposals.
Immediately after the article was published, the German government accused Musk of interfering in the upcoming elections, but also said that “freedom of expression includes the greatest nonsense” and that technology aimed at increasing support for the AfD He tried to downplay the efforts of world mogul Musk.
In his New Year's address, Scholz subtly attacked Musk, saying, “In our discussions, you can be forgiven for thinking that the more extreme an opinion is, the more attention it gets.” .
Scholz told the magazine on Saturday that Musk's support for parties like the AfD was “more worrying than such insults.” The AfD is partly a right-wing extremist group that preaches closer ties with President Vladimir Putin's Russia and wants to weaken transatlantic ties. ”
Musk has become increasingly involved in US politics in the 2024 presidential election, and plans to support President Trump with at least $250 million. talk to AdD leader Weidel said this on his social media platform X on January 9th.
Germany's general election in February comes after Scholz's coalition government collapsed in November.
