Elon Musk’s latest personal attack on German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has sparked widespread discontent in Berlin. Musk wrote on his Twitter platform X, “Steinmeier is an anti-democratic tyrant. He should be ashamed.” The billionaire is known as a close advisor to the designated US President Donald Trump.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) told the Süddeutsche Zeitung that one should “not confuse some discussions on the X platform with what the vast majority of people in our country are really concerned about.” She is sure that Musk’s statements will provoke head-shaking and rejection among the majority who even bother to pay attention. However, it is clear that if the President of our democratic state is called an anti-democratic tyrant, that is not only gross nonsense but also a defamation that must be clearly rejected.
Elon Musk has “obviously found pleasure in destabilizing liberal democracies and strengthening politically extreme right parties and politicians” said Konstantin von Notz, a Green Party parliamentary deputy, to the SZ. He called for a debate on the power of social media platforms. Germany has established a system after the Nazi regime to prevent the “coordination of public discourse” by single parties or financially powerful individuals. Now, there are attempts to destroy this system.
Katja Mast, the First Parliamentary Manager of the SPD parliamentary group, told the SZ, “instead of showing respect, Musk attacks the President disrespectfully and his statements reflect a disregard for democratic values.” By doing so, Musk “tramples all the norms of our democracy.” Such statements are “not only inappropriate but also incitement.” The right response is “to go to the polls and show him that it’s not his money but the people in our country who decide.” It’s good that “citizens in Germany have a say and not tech billionaires.