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Elon Musk to far-right German political party: ‘There is too much focus on past guilt’
The Forward ^ | January 26, 2025 | By Philissa Cramer

Posted on 01/27/2025 8:56:14 AM PST by Miami Rebel

(JTA) — Days after stoking controversy by delivering what some believed to be a Nazi salute and making Holocaust jokes, Elon Musk appeared at a campaign rally for a far-right German political party to tell supporters to be proud of their heritage.

Musk’s appearance Saturday at the rally for Alternative for Germany, known as AfD, was unadvertised and came by video. It was the second time in as many weeks that the world’s richest man and close ally of new U.S. President Donald Trump has appeared alongside Alice Weidel, the party’s candidate for chancellor in Germany’s Feb. 23 election.

During his speech, Musk told a cheering crowd of 4,500 that he believed the AfD was “the best hope for Germany.” He also alluded to Germany’s history.

“There is too much focus on past guilt, and we need to move beyond that. Children should not be guilty of the sins of their parents, let alone their great-grandparents,” Musk said.

He added that he believed the party could “preserve” and “protect” German culture, which he implied was facing a threat.

“It’s good to be proud of German culture, German values, and not to lose that in some sort of multiculturalism that dilutes everything,” Musk said.

The rally is set to be AfD’s largest before next month’s elections, in which the party is polling in second place. The rally took place in Halle, the eastern Germany city where a far-right extremist attacked a synagogue on Yom Kippur in 2019.

Musk’s appearance at the rally comes days after he twice made a straight-armed gesture at a Trump inauguration event that ignited comparisons to the Nazi “Sieg Heil” salute. After some arbiters of antisemitism said they would give him the benefit of the doubt, Musk posted a series of Holocaust jokes on X, the social network that he owns.

The entire saga followed Musk’s recent endorsement of AfD, which has found increasing traction in Germany with its anti-immigrant, pro-Russia and anti-European Union platform. Some of its politicians have also downplayed the Holocaust, and German courts have fined one of its regional leaders, Björn Höcke, multiple times for using the Nazi-era phrase “Alles für Deutschland,” or Everything for Germany.

Musk hosted Weidel for a livestream on X earlier this month. During the call, Weidel falsely claimed that Adolf Hitler was a communist in a bid to distance AfD’s politics from the Nazis’.

Musk’s appearance at the AfD rally caused at least some Jews who said they had previously given Musk the benefit of the doubt to condemn him.

“There I was. Joining the chorus calling the left ridiculous because of a poorly orchestrated arm gesture. And then this happens, coupled with a few Holocaust zingers on Twitter in terrible taste, and now, I’m not so sure who is ridiculous, or if in fact we are all being played,” Blake Flayton, a pro-Israel influencer, posted on Instagram.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: adf; afdareleftists; antisemitism; auschwitz; concerntroll; concerntrolling; cryharder; eussr; fourthreich; kkk; mds; musk; muskkk; neonazis; notrightwing; wahhhh
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To: Miami Rebel

AMEN! I’ve been saying this for over 30 years. Mao and Stalin were even bigger mass murderers than Hitler. Do you see the Russians or the Chinese allowing themselves to be crippled by wallowing in feelings of guilt for the crimes of these dictatorships? No. Its way past time for the Germans to just get on with it and stop the constant self flagellation.


21 posted on 01/27/2025 9:44:05 AM PST by FLT-bird
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To: Miami Rebel

You have a lot to learn about the AfD, before you mouth off.
Do yourself a favor and do some research.
Do you consider yourself to be a conservative?
Did you listen to the Musk/Weidel discussion?
Did you see the clip where Musk supposably did a “Nazi salute ?”
From were did you copy and paste your # 1 post ?
If you want to chase down “real” neo-Nazis, go and dig around in THE Ukraine.
They are crawling with Nazis.


22 posted on 01/27/2025 9:44:34 AM PST by ANKE69 (✌️🇺🇲 Let's MAGA)
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To: Miami Rebel

But they don’t. Taking pride in your culture, history and heritage is not “echoing” Nazi themes. Claiming that it is is ridiculous.


23 posted on 01/27/2025 9:47:10 AM PST by FLT-bird
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To: Miami Rebel

I read a story from the Jerusalem Post about 10 years ago when the syrian war caused a mass exodus from syria to germany. It caused an uncomfortable clanging of prejudices among the Israelis. Why? It showed just how pathetic the Germans had become compared to the Germans of 3-4 generations ago. For the Israelis, it was a matter. Ok yes we hate the Germans but do we hate them so much that we wish this kind of awfulness on their country. And is it good for Israel that Germans should be such supine fools? Or that Germany should be taken over by muslims. The Israeli journalist went to Germany and tried to explain to as many Germans as he could that, while, yes, Jews were exterminated in Germany—Jews were also the major exterminators in Stalin’s Russia. They were the second largest people group after great Russians in the Russian communist party. Russian Jews ran large parts of the Russian secret police. they carried out Stalin’s orders to exterminate Stalins enemies real and imagined. The Israelis all know this. Huge numbers of Russian jews emmigrated to Israel. The Israeli Journalist tried to explain this to every German he met. But— as the Israeli journalist explained it—the Germans wouldn’t hear it. They felt their guilt was unredeemable.

You may think it best that the Germans think of themselves as unredeemable. But there are consequences. The principle consequence is that the Germans die out and the country is taken over by Moslems who are totally hostile to jews everywhere.

Think that’s beyond the pale? Its not. The demographics are all going against the Germans. That’s true in France. That true in England. Mohhammed is the most common baby name in England today.

You are free to think this is all both true and beautiful. But to the extent that you are not making a religion out of the haulcaust—this inner collapse of europe is not in the interest of Israel or the diaspora.

Musk’s words are in the interest of Jews everywhere because a Muslim Germany is in the interest of nobody. (That’s also true for England. France may be gone. As well as a couple other countries in Europe.)


24 posted on 01/27/2025 9:47:14 AM PST by ckilmer
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To: bigdaddy45

He wasn’t “jokingly minimizing” the Nazi past. Where are you coming up with this stupidity?

World War II ended 80 years ago. No German in 2025 is responsible for what happened in the past, nor should they feel shame for it. Feeling ashamed for what someone ELSE did is ridiculous. It shouldn’t be taboo to be proud to be German.


He did precisely what John Cleese did in the “Germans” episode of Fawlty Towers. If anything, it’s the English that came off in that episode as the buffoons.


25 posted on 01/27/2025 9:47:57 AM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: FLT-bird

“Self-flagellation”??

Do you actually know any Germans?? I do. They seem to be pretty well-balanced.

Stalin and Mao were murderous bastards and if Russians and Chinese were taught about them it would be a healthy development, and we would salute their modern leaders for doing so.


26 posted on 01/27/2025 9:49:01 AM PST by Miami Rebel (pro-)
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To: BenLurkin

“You are beautiful, and angular”.


27 posted on 01/27/2025 9:49:07 AM PST by 03A3 (If we can defund the police, we sure as hell can defund the FBI)
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To: Miami Rebel
Ukraine-Yaroslav-Hunka-Getty-640x480

457486324-0
28 posted on 01/27/2025 9:49:21 AM PST by ANKE69 (✌️🇺🇲 Let's MAGA)
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To: dfwgator

I love Monty Python, and I love John Cleese, and I love Fawlty Towers.

Elon Musk is no John Cleese, and being a world leader in commerce and politics is a different gig from being a TV actor.


29 posted on 01/27/2025 9:50:56 AM PST by Miami Rebel (pro-)
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To: ckilmer

“You may think it best that the Germans think of themselves as unredeemable.”

You have a beautiful imagination. I have many German friends.

Your wide-ranging comments suggest you have some global theory in mind, but what it is I cannot fathom.


30 posted on 01/27/2025 9:55:50 AM PST by Miami Rebel (pro-)
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To: Miami Rebel

I think Musk and the AfD’s larger point is really about the future, as in, what future will Germans have if Germany is subsumed into a deranged amalgamated marxist Caliphate. Remembrances of the past are important, so is considering the future.


31 posted on 01/27/2025 10:10:45 AM PST by TimSkalaBim
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To: Miami Rebel

“ Tweeted Musk last week: “Don’t say Hess to Nazi accusations! Some people will Goebbels anything down! Stop Gőring your enemies.”

“His pronouns would’ve been He/Himmler! Bet you did nazi that coming,” and added a laughing emoji.”

He really said this garbage?


32 posted on 01/27/2025 10:14:13 AM PST by HereInTheHeartland (Have you seen Joe Biden's picture on a milk carton?)
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To: HereInTheHeartland

Yes. In addition to be the World’s Greatest Genius, Musk fancies himself the World’s Greatest Comedian.


33 posted on 01/27/2025 10:17:16 AM PST by Miami Rebel (pro-)
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To: Miami Rebel

Let me give you some background. I’m a German citizen. Germans are taught that they are collectively responsible for what happened, and should always be on their guard lest it happen again. Therefore, you rarely if ever see German flags waved or any signs of national pride. A national “shame” has permeated the culture. Therefore they let in scads of immigrants (Muslims) who shit all over their national traditions, and the Germans are too scared to speak up lest they be labeled “far-right” (GASP!!)

Elon is right on the money here. Enough is enough.


34 posted on 01/27/2025 10:19:27 AM PST by bigdaddy45
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To: Miami Rebel

There are millions of people in Germany who are virulent Jew-haters right now. But...they aren’t the Germans. The AfD is trying to get those virulent Jew-haters OUT of the country.


35 posted on 01/27/2025 10:21:52 AM PST by bigdaddy45
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To: Miami Rebel

On the populist, nationalist right you will always get types who like to troll over their nation’s less savoury parts of history and say ‘lol based’. It doesn’t mean it would become party policy.

Besides, the leader of Afd is a lesbian in a mixed race partnership. She’d have been in a concentration camp in about 5 seconds under the third reich.


36 posted on 01/27/2025 10:30:43 AM PST by sinsofsolarempirefan
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To: Miami Rebel

The youngest Adults who were following orders of Hitler are now 97 years old. The 96&Under crowd were all children. The 78&Under crowd were not even born. Change the 97, 96, and 78 numbers on what I just wrote to 98, 97, and 79 in late April. A lot of those people are dying, and they aren’t dying because they don’t have ObummerCare.


37 posted on 01/27/2025 10:33:59 AM PST by Degaston
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To: Miami Rebel

“ In addition to be the World’s Greatest Genius, Musk fancies himself the World’s Greatest Comedian.”

Wow.
What a dumba$$ to make light in anyway of the horrific events that Germany foisted on the world .
On one it’s not fair in 2025 to beat up the entire nation for what the mostly dead ancestors did.
But it needs to be remembered clearly what happened relatively not long ago


38 posted on 01/27/2025 10:38:29 AM PST by HereInTheHeartland (Have you seen Joe Biden's picture on a milk carton?)
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To: Miami Rebel

Shut up Troll. The AFD in Germany is actually to the left of the GOP. Germany has been run by commies for many years.


39 posted on 01/27/2025 10:44:23 AM PST by ohioman
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To: Miami Rebel

Troll. The AFD in Germany is actually to the left of the GOP. Germany has been run by commies for many years and would be better off under AFD leadership.


40 posted on 01/27/2025 10:48:55 AM PST by ohioman
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