The approval rating of the German far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which received support from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, recently jumped to its highest level in a year, about a month before the general election.
According to German news agency DPA, in a public opinion poll conducted by the weekly magazine Welt am Sonntag and public opinion polling agency Insa on the 11th, the AfD’s approval rating was 22%, ranking second after the main opposition party, the Christian Democratic Party-Christian Socialist Party (30%). AfD’s approval rating rose 2 percentage points in a week, recovering its all-time high of 22% set in January last year. Germany’s major political parties still do not intend to form a coalition with the AfD, but if this upward trend continues, the AfD’s influence in parliament is likely to increase.
The online live conversation between Musk and AfD leader Alice Weidel, held on the 9th, attracted more than 200,000 concurrent users. The conversation, which lasted 75 minutes in English, was broadcast live through Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) account, which has 200 million followers. “If Germans do not support the AfD, the situation in Germany will get worse,” Musk said. He then praised Weidel, saying, “He is a truly reasonable and common sense person.”
In response to criticism that the AfD is a pro-Nazi party, Weidel countered by saying, “Adolf Hitler was just a person who advocated anti-Semitism and socialism,” and added, “We are a liberal conservative party at the exact opposite point.” He also said, “Anti-Semitism is spreading on the left. “The AfD is the only party that will protect Jews in Germany,” he claimed.
The two also made efforts to criticize Germany’s existing policies, such as nuclear phase-out and inclusion of immigrants. Regarding the German government’s decision to close all nuclear power plants in 2023, Weidel criticized it as “a stupid decision that can only be made if you hate the country.” Musk also defended this, calling it “a foolish thing caused by the incompetence of the decision maker.” Also, in response to Weidel’s remark that “illegal immigrants come to Germany because they will not be deported from this ridiculous country (Germany),” Musk said, “The United States is also seeing an influx of criminals who may be murderers or rapists.”
The AfD is evaluated both inside and outside Germany as having grown in power by advocating deportation of immigrants, anti-Semitism, and anti-Islam policies. German judicial authorities classify the AfD as a suspected extremist group.
Reporter Lee Ji-yoon [email protected]
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