Today’s X Spaces conversation between the Alternative for Germany’s (AfD) co-leader Alice Weidel and Elon Musk was not well-received by the legacy media. According to AP, Musk “amplified the German far-Right leader’s views” while the New York Times claimed that the world’s richest man was “trying to break Germany’s quarantine on the far-Right AfD”.

The truth, though, was a little more banal. Over the course of the conversation, Weidel and Musk discussed a number of topics that made the AfD co-leader than more like a politician from the liberal FDP. For example, she argued that Germany needed to return to nuclear power, and those responsible for the energy transition were either “stupid or hate Germany.” Weidel added that there was too much tax and bureaucracy, a sentiment shared by Musk who told of how he had to print out and stamp every page of a 25,000 page document for building a factory in Germany.

Unfortunately, there was no talk about how the party would achieve these goals, what it would do to reverse the consequences of mass migration, and how it would revive the German economy. The larger question, though, is whether Musk’s endorsement of the AfD could boost the party’s standing ahead of this year’s federal elections.

While it certainly is better for the AfD’s electoral prospects to have the world’s richest man on its side than against it, so far his engagement has not moved the needle for the upcoming election. Latest polls have the AfD at 20%, up from 19% since Musk started to sound off on German politics. But this could also be the consequence of the deepening recession, a recent terrorist attack, and the success of the Austrian Freedom Party, a role model for the AfD, which is poised to enter the next Austrian coalition government. In spite of Musk’s support, the AfD still lags 10 points behind the centre-right CDU party.

One reason why Musk may struggle to make an impact is language — it is much harder for the Tesla CEO to insert himself into the national conversation (as he has done in the UK) because he does not speak German. Another is knowledge. As the conversation with Weidel made clear, Musk’s understanding of German politics does not really extend beyond his own business experience in the country and what he reads on X.

Despite his limited impact, Musk’s involvement has infuriated parts of the German establishment who, five years ago, might have once sought his support. This hysteria was most pronounced in the mainstream media and the Green Party, with Robert Habeck warning the billionaire to “keep his hands of our democracy”. But in truth, it is much harder to influence German politics from the outside. According to a new election law from 2024, party donations originating from non-EU countries are illegal, so there is almost no way for Musk to financially support the AfD in the same way he once planned to do in the UK with the Reform party.

Even so, Musk certainly succeeded in helping normalise the AfD, gently putting the party onto the same trajectory as Marine Le Pen in France or Giorgia Meloni in Italy. Is it enough to make Weidel Chancellor one day? Not at this point, but if Musk is playing the long game, he might be there at her possible inauguration a few years down the road.

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Ralph Schoellhammer is assistant professor of International Relations at Webster University, Vienna.

Raphfel

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