Scandal at German newspaper Elon Musk praises the AfD in guest article - opinion leader quits

The richest man in the world advertises for the AfD in a German newspaper. The head of opinion then resigns. The head of publishing is said to have pushed the article through.

A guest article by tech billionaire Elon Musk has caused quite a stir at the major German newspaper "Welt". Musk has renewed his call to vote for the AfD in the upcoming federal elections.

"The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is the last spark of hope for this country," writes Musk in a guest article for Welt am Sonntag (WamS).

Head of opinion resigns immediately

Musk's article caused a great deal of anger within the editorial team. The head of the opinion section of "Welt" and "WamS" of the Welt newspaper group posted on X that she had "handed in my notice after going to press" as a consequence of the Musk text. Other Welt journalists also posted their displeasure publicly on X.

In the newspaper itself, the future editor-in-chief of the "Welt" group, Jan Philipp Burgard, contradicted the billionaire's comments: "Musk's diagnosis is correct, but his therapeutic approach that only the AfD can save Germany is fatally flawed." Both articles - Musk's and Burgard's - were placed next to each other in the printed newspaper.

Fierce controversy for days

According to media reports, the publication of Musk's guest article sparked a fierce controversy within the editorial team even before Christmas Eve. The editorial committee had already warned against publication at the time, writes the industry service "Medieninsider", while "Der Spiegel" reports further controversy at the final editorial conference on Friday.

The guest article was apparently initiated by Axel Springer boss Mathias Döpfner, the publishing house behind "Welt" and "Welt am Sonntag". Shortly before Christmas, he is said to have asked Musk to publish a post on his own platform "X" in which he praises the Afd.

When asked by Deutsche Presse-Agentur about the genesis of the article and how the internal criticism was handled, the Axel Springer media group responded with a joint statement from the current editor-in-chief of the "Welt" group, Ulf Poschardt, and his successor Burgard: "The current discussion about Elon Musk's text is very revealing. Democracy and journalism thrive on freedom of opinion." This includes dealing with polarizing positions and classifying them journalistically. "This will continue to determine the compass of Die Welt in the future. We will develop "Die Welt" even more decisively as a forum for such debates."

Musk has been involved for some time

Musk is considered a close advisor to US President-elect Donald Trump and has been commissioned by him to work with entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy in a newly created committee called DOGE ("Department of Government Efficiency") to develop proposals for cutting government spending. The tech billionaire, who as Tesla boss is one of the largest employers in Brandenburg, has also been interfering in British politics for months. For example, he has pledged his support to the right-wing populist Reform UK party.

Ahead of the planned Bundestag elections on February 23, the AfD is in second place in the polls with around 19 percent, behind the CDU/CSU with more than 30 percent. All parties represented in the Bundestag have ruled out cooperation with the far-right party.

With material from the news agency dpa.