'Only AfD can save Germany' Elon Musk in conversation with far-right party leader
Just before 6 PM on Thursday, thousands of X user's were in an online lobby with waiting-room styled music.
Why you may ask?
They were awaiting a live-streamed conversation between X's owner Elon Musk and the leader of Germany's far right party, Alice Weidel.
Weidel had teased the interview earlier in the week, raising alarms across Europe about potential meddling by Musk, just over a month before German's head to the polls.
First US politics, then the UK. Is it now German politics Musk has his sights set on?
Who is Alice Weidel and the AfD?
Alternative for Germany or the AfD is a political party founded in 2013 and has recently received strong approval rates.
The group is currently the second strongest political party in Germany just after the centre-right Christian Democrats.
In December 2024, for the first time, the AfD nominated its own candidate for Chancellor - Alice Weidel.
The 45-year-old economist said she would get Germany's economy back on track and harshly cut down on immigration.
The AfD has been placed under observation by the country's domestic intelligence agency for suspected extremism.
More mainstream German political parties have also shunned working with it.
But AfD have argued that it is a political attempt to discredit the party.
How Musk was first introduced to the AfD?
Musk has a 24-year-old influencer to thank for his introduction to the AfD, Naomi Seibt.
Shortly before polls closed in June 2024 for the European Parliament elections, Seibt took to X to tell her followers she had voted for the AfD.
Just an hour later, Musk commented on the post asking "Why is there such a negative reaction from some about AfD?".
From there, a conversation between Seibt and Musk formed surrounding the far right political party.
And now a livestream between Musk and the party's leader.
'I think only AFD can save Germany'
The livestream's conversation peaked at 200,000 X accounts.
The pair both agreed that the country faced too much immigration, that taxes were too high and that it was a mistake to have closed nuclear power plants.
"Nothing outrageous has been proposed, just common sense,” Musk said. “People really need to get behind the AfD, otherwise things are going to get very, very much worse in Germany.”
They also emphasised the importance of free speech which Weidel used to refute the idea that her party has any affinity to country's Nazi past.
“The biggest success after that terrible era in our history was to label Adolf Hitler as right and conservative. He was exactly the opposite. He wasn’t a conservative. He wasn’t a libertarian. He was a communist socialist guy,” Weidel claimed.
The European Commission is listening
One of the users waiting in that lobby to listen to the conversation were watchdogs from the European Commission.
They have accused X of violating the 27-nation bloc's digital rulebook for cleaning up social media platforms and protecting online users for harm.
Officials say that the tech billionaire has the right to express his views but that the rulebook or otherwise known as the Digital Services Act, is made to lower the risks of platforms being misused to amplify illegal content including election-related misinformation.
The Commission has been investigating whether the social media platform complies with this.
In preliminary findings which were issued last year, Brussels argued that X was in breach as its blue checkmarks originally intended as verification badges for users, are deceptive.
They said it falls short of transparency and accountability requirements.
Regulators are still looking into other possible offences.
Musk playing politics
Last year, Musk worked to help reelect Donald Trump.
He begun 2025 by moving onto UK politics, attacking the current government and calling for the release of far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
It now appears to be Germany's turn and that has been a cause for concern for many.
But who could be next?
Austria's far right Free Party is due to start coalition talks with the conservative People's Party this week and as Musk continues to wade in on European politics - could it be Austria which is next?
Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know