Welt am Sonntag Opinion Editor Resigns After Musk Op-Ed

Elon Musk has just cost someone their job.

Musk’s comments on the upcoming election were posted in Welt am Sonntag, a German Sunday newspaper, showing his support for the Alternative for Germany (AfD).

This weekend, it was reported that the editor for opinion pieces has resigned in protest.

I’m Done

After the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-party governing coalition, Germany has scheduled a special election to take place on February 23, 2025.

Addressing the upcoming election, Musk has now supported the AfD party in two separate opinion pieces, creating quite a bit of outrage around the world, including among liberals in this country.

Musk had written, "The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is the last spark of hope for this country.”

Musk continued that the AfD "can lead the country into a future where economic prosperity, cultural integrity and technological innovation are not just wishes, but reality."

Musk backed his commentary up in terms of having a right to speak up due to his significant investment in the country.

Germany, however, has accused Musk of trying to influence the election, with Deputy Government Spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann stating, “It is indeed the case that Elon Musk is trying to influence the federal election.”

AfD is being called the far-right party in the election, which has caused Musk to push back, stating, “Portraying the AfD as far-right is clearly false, considering that Alice Weidel, the party’s leader, has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka! Does that sound like Hitler to you? Come on!”

Friedrich Merz — the chancellor candidate for the CDU/CSU alliance, who is widely expected to become Germany’s next leader — criticized the op-ed, stating, “I cannot recall, in the history of Western democracies, that there has been a comparable case of interference in the electoral campaign of a friendly country.”

Well, it is not a country, it is just one man who legally migrated to the United States expressing his opinion in the election of a country where he has a significant investment in the business sector, specifically in EVs.

After Musk’s comments were posted by the paper, the editor of the Welt am Sonntag opinion section, Eva Marie Kogel, announced on X that she was resigning her position.

She posted, "I always enjoyed leading the opinion section of WELT and WAMS. Today an article by Elon Musk appeared in Welt am Sonntag. I handed in my resignation yesterday after it went to print.”

The future editor-in-chief of the Welt group, Jan Philipp Burgard, wrote a piece to accompany Musk’s opinion piece, stating, "Musk's diagnosis is correct, but his therapeutic approach, that only the AfD can save Germany, is fatally wrong.”

I really don’t know a lot about the AfD, but what I do know is that the party is very much against immigration into Germany, specifically wanting to end Muslim immigration.

It is also against the more global policies of Angela Merkel. The party has also been marked as a “suspected extremist” party by the German judiciary.