In the eight days of leading DOGE, Musk has become the focus of several news stories. Most notably, he made “what appears to be a Heil Hitler salute” during a rally at Capital One Arena on the day of the Inauguration of Trump and his running mate, JD Vance. More recently, he traveled to the German City of Halle and addressed approximately 4,000 attendees during a rally for Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), a right-wing party the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) says is led by people who have “made antisemitic, anti-Muslim and anti-democratic statements.” While addressing the German crowd, Musk said there is “frankly too much of a 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 parents, their great-grandparents,” Musk said.
Musk’s recent actions and remarks have drawn criticism from across the political map, including Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
“The words we heard from the main actors of the AfD rally about ‘Great Germany’ and ‘the need to forget German guilt for Nazi crimes’ sounded all too familiar and ominous,” Tusk wrote. “Especially only hours before the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.”
In addition, Musk now faces criticism from those in tech space, including billionaire Bill Gates.
“You want to promote the right wing but say Nigel Farage is not right wing enough… I mean, this is insane s—t. You are for the AfD [in Germany],” Gates told The Times. “We can all overreach… If someone is super-smart, and he is, they should think how they can help out. But this is populist stirring.”
