Elon Musk and the far-right German leader agree that Hitler was a communist

On Thursday, Elon Musk agreed with the leader of a far-right German political party that Adolf Hitler was a communist, and that left-wing groups that support Palestinian issues have more in common with the Nazis than with her party.

The bizarre and misleading conversation between Musk and Alice Weidel, leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, took place on X. It came weeks after Musk’s efforts to boost the far-right party, which Deep links To neo-Nazism He was monitored for suspected extremism by German intelligence services.

“(Hitler) was a communist, and he considered himself a socialist,” Weidel said in response to Musk’s question about media reports linking the Alternative for Germany party to Nazism.

Weidel said: “The greatest success after that terrible era in our history was describing Adolf Hitler as right-wing and conservative, and he was exactly the opposite.” “He was not a conservative, he was not a liberal, he was a communist and socialist man, and we are the opposite.”

“Correct,” Musk replied.

In his autobiography Mein kampfHitler—who as leader of the German Reich was responsible for the invasion of the Soviet Union and the enslavement and death of millions of its citizens—repeatedly describes communism as an enemy of the German nation. He believed Marxism was a Jewish conspiracy to control Germany and the world.

Weidel also compared the Nazi Party’s views to those of contemporary left-wing political groups that support Palestine in the face of what it called a UN commission. Crimes against humanity committed by Israel. While her colleagues from the Alternative for Germany party were seen last month Attending a secret meeting organized by former members of a militant neo-Nazi group Known for burning the Israeli flag, she said, “The Alternative for Germany party is the only protector of the Jewish people here in Germany.”

Weidel is the Alternative for Germany party’s candidate for chancellor in the early elections that will be held in Germany next month. As a woman who formerly worked in finance and lives in Switzerland with her wife, who is from Sri Lanka, and their children, she has been presented as the relatively moderate face of the party.

This is something Musk picked up on in an op-ed he wrote last month for a German newspaper.

“The portrayal of the AfD as far-right is clearly false, considering that Alice Weidel, the party’s leader, has a gay partner from Sri Lanka,” Musk wrote. “Does this sound like Hitler to you? Please!” “.

Ahead of the talk on Thursday, the EU said it would monitor the event to see if it was artificially promoted to voters in Germany, which would be in violation of the rules of the region’s Universal Digital Service Act. A European Commission spokesperson told WIRED he would not comment on the contents of the live broadcast.

Weidel noted the EU’s preoccupation with the conversation, claiming that 150 EU Commission officials were listening in. He then claimed that the digital security law was a tool of censorship, before adding: “Do you know what Adolf Hitler did? He stopped freedom of expression. He took control.” On the media, without that he would never have succeeded.”