German chancellor takes veiled swipe at Elon Musk in New Year's address
(The Hill) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz gave a subtle nod to criticism around billionaire Elon Musk's influence on President-elect Trump early Tuesday, saying the nation's fate will not be decided by "the owners of social media."
“In our debates, one can be forgiven for sometimes thinking the more extreme an opinion is, the more attention it will garner," Scholz said in his New Year's Eve message, without specifically pointing to Musk or Trump, according to The Guardian.
He added that Germany's future “will be up to the vast majority of reasonable and decent people."
“After all, it’s customary to make wishes on New Year’s Eve," Scholz said later. "What I wish for is that we will not let ourselves be played off each other."
Scholz's comments come days after the German government accused the billionaire of trying to influence its February election.
Musk wrote an op-ed in the nation's Welt am Sonntag newspaper backing the far-right political party Alternative for Germany. In the piece, the staunch Trump ally also called for the resignation of Scholz.
Christiane Hoffman, a spokesperson for the chancellor's office, acknowledged that despite the perceived meddling, Musk had a right to his opinion.
“After all, freedom of opinion also covers the greatest nonsense," Hoffman said Monday.
The chancellor in his comments Tuesday pointed to what he called disinformation on social media around the recent Christmas market attack in the city of Magdeburg, which left five dead and injured 200
“No small number of these rumors and conjectures, though, have meanwhile been debunked. These things divide and weaken us,” he said, The Guardian reported. “This is not good for our country.”
The back-and-forth follows criticism from Democrats around who is calling the shots ahead of Trump's return to the White House. Many have taunted the former president, claiming "President Musk" is really in charge after the billionaire helped to kill a bipartisan spending agreement earlier this month and the president-elect seemingly followed suit.
Trump over the weekend rejected the claims, echoing his team's remarks that he is the "real leader" of the GOP.
“No, he’s not gonna be president, that I can tell you,” Trump said about Musk during a Turning Point USA event in Phoenix on Sunday. “And I’m safe, you know why? He can’t be, he wasn’t born in this country.”
The relationship between the two has also been scrutinized by key Trump allies, including former adviser Steve Bannon and far-right activist Laura Loomer in light of recent conservative infighting around the nonimmigrant H-1B visa program.
When reached to for comment, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung pointed The Hill to the president-elect's previous comments.