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.”
Yet Musk’s support for Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) played little part in the party’s stunning second-place result in the Feb. 23 election, according to a 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.
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