Musk support for far right in Europe is hurting Tesla

FOR THE PAST two months, tech billionaire Elon Musk has promoted Germany's far-right party in at least two dozen posts on his X platform, interviewed its leader, and told his 219 million followers it was the country's "only hope."

- ANDREW MACASKILL, ANDREW RC MARSHALL & NICK CAREY

Yet Musk's support for Alternative fur Deutschland played little part in the party's stunning second-place result in the February 23 election, according to a Reuters review of his posts and polling data as well as interviews with political analysts.

The Tesla CEO appears undaunted, continuing to promote right-wing causes across Europe. While the most noticeable impact, so far, seems to be damage to Tesla's brand, analysts say he may have a longer-term goal for his business empire: Backing political parties that might cut back regulations he thinks impede tech innovations.

Musk and Tesla did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

In January, Musk bemoaned what he called Europe's "layer cake of regulations and bureaucracy".

The AfD classified by Germany's domestic intelligence service as a suspected extremist group is now Germany's largest opposition party after last month's election, despite the stigma the far right traditionally carries due to the country's Nazi past. One of the party's senior politicians had to step aside last year after declaring that the SS, the Nazis' main paramilitary force, were "not all criminals". Musk broadcast his interview with AfD leader Alice Weidel on X on January 9.