Agency Report
Tesla boss Elon Musk has added to his record of personal insults aimed at German politicians with a new post targeting German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
On his X account on Tuesday, the US billionaire and close advisor to US President-elect Donald Trump wrote in English: “Steinmeier is an anti-democratic tyrant! Shame on him.”
Steinmeier’s office said that it had taken note of the post but would not comment on it.
Musk’s comment refers to the posting of an influencer close to the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), who criticized Steinmeier after he spoke out against outside influence on upcoming elections. During his speech in parliament, Steinmeier explicitly mentioned the social media platform X which is owned by Musk.
Musk, who is known for posting provocative messages on his platform at high frequency, has been provoking debate in German politics, as the country prepares for elections on February 23.
Over the weekend, he once again promoted the AfD in an opinion column for the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
After the break-up of the three-way coalition government in November, the Tesla boss wrote about Chancellor Olaf Scholz in German: “Olaf ist ein Narr” (Olaf is a fool).
He has also predicted in a previous post that Scholz would lose the election, misspelling his name.
Musk’s account has more than 200 million followers.