The editor of the opinion section of the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, Eva Marie Kogel, resigned after the website published a column by American Elon Musk in support of the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD). The journalist announced this on the social network X, UNN reports.
I have always enjoyed being the head of the opinion section at Die Welt and Welt am Sonntag. Today, Elon Musk's text appeared in Welt am Sonntag. Yesterday, after it was published, I handed in my resignation,
At the same time, as Deutsche Welle notes, an internal editorial discussion about the appropriateness of the publication caused conflicting opinions among the publication's staff. In his commentary to the article, Die Welt editor-in-chief Jan Philipp Burgard noted that although Musk points out Germany's real problems, his support for the AfD is a "fatal mistake." He reminds us that the AfD plans to withdraw Germany from the European Union, which would be "a disaster for the exporting country, as more than half of all German exports go to the internal European market." Burgard also notes that the AfD are radical politicians. In several German regions, the party's youth organizations have been recognized by the courts as right-wing extremist.
The publication also faced criticism from its own journalists, who called the publication "election advertising disguised as a guest article.
Addendum
In the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, American billionaire Elon Musk expressed support for the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD), which caused a wave of outrage.
In his column, Musk called the AfD "the last spark of hope" for Germany, justifying support for a party often accused of extremism. He noted that it is incorrect to describe the AfD as far-right, referring to the personal life of party leader Alice Weidel, who has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka.
Musk also supported the AfD's positions on energy, the economy and migration, saying that they reflect "the principles of Tesla and SpaceX's success.