Over the past two months, tech billionaire Elon Musk has promoted the German far-right party in at least two dozen posts on his X platform, interviewed its leader, and told his 219 million followers that she is the "only hope" for the country.
However, Musk's support for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party had little impact on its stunning second-place finish in the February 23 election, according to a Reuters analysis of his statements, opinion polls and interviews with political analysts.
Musk, the Tesla CEO, appears undeterred and continues to promote right-wing causes across Europe. While the most noticeable effect so far has been the tarnishing of Tesla's reputation, analysts believe he may have a longer-term goal for his business empire - supporting political parties that could reduce regulations that he sees as hindering technological innovation.
In January, Musk criticized what he called Europe's "layer cake of regulations and bureaucracy."
The AfD party - classified by Germany's domestic intelligence agency as a suspected extremist group - is now the largest opposition party in Germany after last month's election, despite the stigma the far right traditionally carries because of the country's Nazi past. One of the party's top politicians was forced to resign last year after he said that members of the SS, the main Nazi paramilitary force, "were not all criminals." Musk aired an interview with AfD leader Alice Weidel on Platform X on January 9.
The AfD's growing popularity reflects a phenomenon spreading across Europe, with populist far-right parties seeing their biggest popularity surge in decades.
Once on the political fringes, they are now in power or share power in Italy, the Netherlands, Hungary, Slovakia, Finland and Croatia. In the parliaments of Sweden, Austria and now Germany, they are the largest or second largest parties, while they are seeing support grow in France. The far right is also gaining ground in Romania, Belgium, Spain and Portugal.
These parties have been strengthened by high immigration, economic stagnation and perceived restrictions on free speech - topics that Musk often highlights in his posts on the X platform. According to an analysis of more than 20.000 of his posts, Musk has become increasingly focused on European politics since helping Donald Trump return to the White House.
Musk used X to promote right-wing figures in Britain, Italy, and Romania, while simultaneously mocking political leaders and senior EU officials.
When Musk first explicitly endorsed the AfD in Germany on December 20, the party was polling at 19,3 percent, according to a Reuters tally. It ultimately won 20,8 percent of the vote. Those numbers suggest his influence on the election was not significant, three political analysts told Reuters. Three violent attacks in Germany during that period, suspected of being carried out by people from the Middle East and Afghanistan, may also have helped boost the AfD, which advocates mass deportations of immigrants.
However, two analysts believe that Musk has increased the party's appeal among certain voters, especially younger ones, which could improve its performance in the next election.
"He helped make the AfD look a little more cool and innovative," said Martin Fasnaht, chairman of the department of strategy and marketing at the WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management in Germany.
Musk's open cheering for the far right appears to be costing Tesla, whose sales in Europe fell 45% in January from a year earlier, while its rivals saw growth of over 37%, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association.
Early sales figures for February in Europe show a continuation of that decline. Four corporate fleet managers told Reuters that Tesla's share of their fleets had either stagnated or declined, hinting at tough times for the company.
Far-right rock star
In the UK, Musk attacked Prime Minister Keir Starmer, called for the release of a jailed far-right activist and backed Reform, a right-wing populist party whose plans to reduce immigration and abandon climate goals are almost identical to Trump's.
In Italy, Musk has developed a close relationship with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Both have expressed concerns about immigration and the declining birthrate in Western countries. Meloni recently called Musk a "precious genius."
In Romania, he promoted posts about far-right politician Calin Đorđescu and harshly criticized one of the judges who annulled his presidential candidacy last year over suspicions of Russian interference.
American technology platforms like X have "enormous power" to shape public opinion in Europe, said Damijan Tambini, an expert on media and regulatory policy at the London School of Economics.
"It's not so unthinkable that (Musk) could politically turn the entire country upside down," Tambini said. "That would in turn create a completely different balance of power within the EU," with far-right governments gaining increasing influence in the already divided 27-nation bloc.
Such governments could potentially help Musk repeal or relax regulations he disapproves of, Tambini added.
Musk, who is leading Trump's push to drastically reduce the size of the US federal government, has publicly criticized European business regulations, calling them bad for economic growth and a form of censorship. He has been under investigation by the EU for more than a year for possible violations of a new European law that requires platforms like X to monitor illegal content. A decision has not yet been made.
Under the EU’s Digital Services Act, X could be fined up to 6% of its annual global revenue if it fails to take action against illegal content and disinformation or fails to comply with transparency rules. The case is a key test of the EU’s ability to enforce rules on US social media as it tries to tackle disinformation and illegal content.
European governments are wary of Musk's growing status as a "rock star of the far right," said Asma Mhala, a French political scientist specializing in the relationship between big tech companies and politics.
She suspects that Musk's ultimate goal is to weaken European regulations and strengthen American power, especially given his role as a senior advisor to Donald Trump.
The White House declined to comment on Musk's role in US policy toward Europe.
Greg Svenson, president of Republicans Overseas UK, an organization that supports American Republicans abroad, said that fighting to lift European regulatory restrictions would help all companies, not just Musk's.
"He's doing it for the greater good."
The war against "woke" culture
Criticizing Europe, Musk often shares unverified information on the X platform, including posts from anonymous accounts that tag him, while amplifying the voices of known disinformation spreaders, a Reuters analysis of his posts shows.
Most of his posts have focused on mass immigration and what he sees as restrictions on free speech, Reuters has found. He has also criticized Europe's declining birthrate and transgender rights. Musk often bypasses traditional media, politicians and academics, favoring a small community of far-right accounts.
One of these accounts is PeterSweden7, run by journalist and political commentator Peter Immanuelsson. He has previously claimed that the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on America were "inside-out" and that the moon landings were faked.
Musk has promoted at least six of Emanuelson's misleading posts. In January, he shared his claim that a man had been sentenced to 20 months in prison for a Facebook post, without explaining that the post was actually calling for people to attack a hotel housing refugees.
Emanuelson told Reuters that it was not possible to include all the detailed information in one post and that he no longer believed in conspiracy theories.
Another account with which Musk regularly communicates on European issues belongs to Tommy Robinson, a right-wing agitator convicted of fraud and assault, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon. He is currently in prison for contempt of court in London.
Musk called for Robinson's release, sharing the false claim that he was a "political prisoner," while Robinson's account on January 20th announced that the billionaire was funding a portion of his legal fees.
Robinson's lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.
For Musk, the owners of such accounts represent potential soldiers in a battle that the right defines as a conflict between restrictive left-wing politicians and right-wing advocates of free speech, said Mert Can Bayar, a researcher at the University of Washington who studies Musk's social networks.
"Influencers are good channels for spreading his vision of the world," Bajar added.
Impact on car sales
While Musk's influence on European politics is uncertain, his activism is clearly hurting Tesla, whose sales in Europe are facing problems after falling 10,8% in 2024, at a time when the entire market has seen a decline of just 1,3%.
A survey conducted in late January by electric vehicle review website Electrifying.com found that 59% of Britons who already own an electric vehicle or are planning to buy one would not choose Tesla over Musk. An anti-Tesla campaign is underway on Platform X under the hashtags #teslatakedown and #swasticars.
Musk's comments further complicate the situation for Tesla. When the company launched the Model Y in 2020, there were only 25 standard EV models on the British market. Today, there are 133, as Chinese brands flood the market with new, more affordable electric cars.
"I wouldn't write them off yet, but they need something fresher," said Tim Albertsen, chief executive of Ayvens, one of Europe's largest car dealerships. He declined to comment on the impact of Musk's views on sales, but said Tesla is "pretty weak on the model offering."
Ben Kilby, owner of a British communications and market analytics firm, has owned a Model Y for three years, but now plans to get rid of it because of Musk.
“I love my Tesla car, I love technology,” Kilby said. “But I don’t want to be associated with Musk’s politics or his public statements.
Translation: NB
Bonus video:
