Musk backs AfD and blows up US budget
Is there no end to Elon Musk's meddling?
Is there no end to Elon Musk’s meddling? It’s been a busy day for the world’s richest man, who’s both provoked outrage in Berlin after wading into European politics again, and sparked a dispute in the US that has pushed the government to the brink of shutdown.
“Only the AfD can save Germany,” declared Musk provocatively today, ahead of the country’s critical snap election, in a slight to Friedrich Merz, the conservative candidate leading the race to become next chancellor.
Alice Weidel, who heads the AfD - a hard-right party that other mainstream parties in Germany refuse to form coalitions with - was unsurprisingly delighted, responding via social media: “Yes! You are perfectly right!”
The country’s other political leaders were less impressed: Christian Lindner, from the liberal Free Democratic Party denounced the AfD as an “extremist” party, warning Musk: “Don’t rush to conclusions from afar.”
The tech tycoon’s praise of the AfD is just the latest in his series of endorsements of Europe’s populist right parties. Nigel Farage boosted earlier this week that Musk is “right behind” him, amid reports that Musk is considering donating up to $100 million to support Reform UK.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Congress is contending with Musk-induced chaos, with just hours to agree on a new spending bill to avoid a government shutdown.
What does a potential government shutdown have to do with Elon Musk? Rather a lot, as it turns out.
On Wednesday, Musk took to his favourite platform to voice his opposition to a deal that the Republican House leadership had struck with Democrats to fund US government operations until mid-March. A deal he claimed contained wasteful spending. Within a flurry of X posts, Musk - who has been tasked by the President Elect with pruning the federal budget - vowed: “THIS CRIMINAL BILL MUST NOT PASS”.
Following his tirade, support for the package started to crumble, leading Trump to persuade Republicans to abandon the deal. But, while Trump and his bosom buddy succeeded in derailing the bipartisan spending bill, which has been reached after careful compromise, they were less successful in coming up with an alternative.
Last night, a Trump-led replacement - a stripped-down government funding bill that would also raise the limit on how much new debt the federal government can issue - was rejected by a 175-235 vote.
All but two Democrats voted against the bill, with Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader and top Democrat in the chamber, dismissing the revamped Republican proposal as “laughable".
And 38 Republicans - outraged by the proposal to lift government borrowing limits - rebelled.
Now, Congress is scrambling to come up with a new plan before midnight. If no deal is reached by then, US government offices will begin closing, since no federal employees can get their salaries.
Democrats in the chamber yesterday mocked Trump for being led by "President Musk".
One key reason why Musk’s overreach is alarming is his apparent inattention to detail. His flurry of posts about the spending bill was filled with factual errors. In one, he claimed the bill meant members of Congress would get a 40 per cent pay rise. The maximum potential pay increase in 2025 has already been set at 3.8 per cent, according to the Congressional Research. He also said the bill was “funding bioweapon labs,” citing a screenshot from the text of the bill related to “biocontainment laboratories” to better prepare the US to combat infectious diseases.
The spending bill breakdown is just a glimpse of the havoc Musk-the-disrupter could wreak on America when Donald Trump returns to the Oval Office.
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Oh, and the subject of the AfD... while I appreciate you wrote this before news was out about the Magdeburg attack, can you perhaps see why there is just a teensie-weensie bit of frustration with the German old guard?
Well, that's one take.
The other is that the bill contained some eye-wateringly terrible pork-barrel items that should not have stood. You picked out a few bad takes in your article, but here's one to get your teeth into - section 605 - look it up!
It granted each house member (and their office) the right to quash subpoenas for data from their offices, to include all electronic records and emails. It makes the 'grand jury and discovery proof'. How can you hold the state accountable when its elected officials can just delete stuff they don't want you do know about?
Is this 'Musk meddling', or is this a 'last stand' pushback against the worst excesses of a bloated government machine that has no shame, no morals, and no standards?
I am surprised at your one-sided stance on this.