The German Election of Chancellor 2017

The annual New Year’s Eve speech by Germany’s chancellor is traditionally heavy on national unity, reflections on the past 12 months and calls for optimism.

While all those ingredients were present in this year’s televised address by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, he also included an oblique reference to a non-German who has taken a strong, some might say baffling, interest in the country’s politics: Elon Musk.

Mr. Scholz’s New Year’s Eve speech, which will probably be his last, comes amid unusual political turbulence in modern Germany and rising polarization in Europe. The tone of his address reflected the stakes for the country as it faces stalled economic growth, with the chancellor calling for “solidarity” while acknowledging that life had become more expensive for many.

The three-party coalition government that came to power in 2021 collapsed in November, and Mr. Scholz, a center-left Social Democrat, lost a confidence vote this month, triggering federal elections that will be held on Feb. 23.

As the German public prepares to go to the polls, Mr. Musk, a key adviser to President-elect Donald J. Trump, has spoken out on social media and in a newspaper opinion essay in favor of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD. His support of the group, which has neo-Nazi ties and is under surveillance by domestic intelligence for being extremist, has rattled lawmakers and prompted criticism from mainstream leaders across the political spectrum.

In a wide-ranging speech that touched on Germany’s flagging economy, the upcoming 35th anniversary of German reunification, and the recent attack on a Christmas market that left five dead and 200 wounded, Mr. Scholz did not call out Mr. Musk by name, but one carefully worded section seemed to be squarely aimed at him.

“Where Germany goes from here will be decided by you — the citizens,” Mr. Scholz said. “It will not be decided by the owners of social media channels.”

He continued: “In our debates, one can be forgiven for sometimes thinking the more extreme an opinion is, the more attention it will garner. But it won’t be the person who yells loudest who will decide where Germany goes from here. Rather, that will be up to the vast majority of reasonable and decent people.”

Polls suggest the conservative Christian Democratic Party is on track to win the election, but the anti-immigrant AfD is in second place, with around 20 percent.

It is unclear to what extent Mr. Musk’s endorsement — first in a social media post that read “Only the AfD can save Germany,” and then in a 600-word essay in a national paper — will influence the race.

A government spokeswoman, Christiane Hoffmann, said at a news conference on Monday that while everyone has the right to an opinion, Mr. Musk was trying to influence the German election, which she called a “German affair.”

She added, “I think it is good to point out once more that this is a recommendation to vote for a party that is suspected of being right-wing extremist by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and that has already been recognized as right-wing extremist in parts.”

Mr. Musk’s attempts to sway German voters have unified lawmakers from the center-left and center-right in condemnation. Friedrich Merz, who is the head of the right-leaning Christian Democrats and leading the polls, called Mr. Musk’s endorsement “overbearing and presumptuous.”

“I cannot remember a comparable case of interference in the election campaign of a friendly country in the history of Western democracies,” Mr. Merz said in a newspaper interview.

Lars Klingbeil, a co-chairman of Mr. Scholz’s Social Democrats, went as far as to compare Mr. Musk with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. “Both want to influence our elections and specifically support the anti-democratic AfD,” he said in a newspaper interview. “They want Germany to be weakened and plunged into chaos.”

Because political campaigns are largely financed by the German state, donations play a much smaller role in Germany than they do in the United States. By law, it would be illegal for Mr. Musk, as a non-German or non-European Union citizen, to donate more than 1,000 euros (about $1,000) directly to the AfD.

However, the AfD hopes that the endorsement of Mr. Musk, a businessman and car maker who was once widely respected in Germany, improves its visibility. Alice Weidel, the lead candidate for the AfD, posted sections of Mr. Musk’s opinion piece on her social media profile.

Mr. Musk appears to have a special dislike for Mr. Scholz, calling him “a fool” on X in November.

Asked about the insult, Ms. Hoffmann, the government spokeswoman, said on Monday, “Freedom of expression also includes the greatest nonsense.”

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Germany will elect a new Bundestag on 23 February. Find out who is ahead in opinion polls and what coalitions are possible