After Elon Musk Supports Far Right-Wing Party In German Elections, 94% Of Germans Say They Won’t Buy A Tesla

In Germany’s elections last month, Tesla CEO Elon Musk endorsed the country’s far-right party, Alternative for Germany (AFD). Many Germans saw it as an outrageous attempt by a foreigner to influence their election. A new poll of 100,000 Germans has found that 94% would not buy a Tesla, a punishing blow to the struggling EV maker whose sales in Europe have fallen by 40% this year. 

A spokesman for the German government said in December 2024 that Musk was obviously attempting to interfere with Germany’s national election. Welt am Sonntag newspaper released an opinion piece by Musk in which he said that Germany was on “the brink of economic and cultural collapse” and AFD was the “last spark of hope.”

>READ: ELON MUSK CALLS SOCIAL SECURITY ‘THE BIG ONE TO ELIMINATE’

Musk virtually attended the launch party for AFD’s campaign and gave a video address. Meanwhile, crowds protested against the far right and Donald Trump’s administration at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate.

On Jan. 9, Musk spoke with AfD’s candidate for chancellor, Alice Weidel, over a live stream that surpassed 200,000 viewers. As the two spoke for over an hour on Musk’s social platform X, they shared similar views on tax and immigration issues, and Musk urged people to vote for AFD.

“People really need to get behind the AfD, otherwise things are going to get very, very much worse in Germany,” Musk said.

In his support, Musk has relentlessly expressed the importance of Germans taking pride in their heritage.

Over 4,000 members gathered in Halle, Germany, on Saturday for the AdF rally. In his virtual address, Musk urged listeners not to be ashamed of their country’s history. 

After the controversy surrounding Musk’s Nazi-like gestures at an inaugural event, he faced harsh criticism. He responded with posts on X, alluding to prominent German Nazis through puns. “Don’t say Hess to Nazi accusations! Some people will Goebbels anything down!” Musk wrote.

“The words we heard from the main actors of the AfD rally about ‘Great Germany’ and ‘the need to forget German guilt for Nazi crimes’ sounded all too familiar and ominous,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk posted on X.