During a livestreamed discussion on X this past Thursday, Elon Musk and a leader from Germany’s far-right seemed to arrive at an incredibly strange conclusion: that Adolf Hitler was a communist.
Musk had been promoting the chat with Alice Weidel, co-leader of the AfD (Alternative for Germany), for several days. Given his recent leanings toward right-wing ideologies and his open support for the party, it was not particularly shocking that both individuals appeared to connect.
According to Wired, what was surprising was just how “deeply weird” their conversation turned. Among the most peculiar assertions made was the idea that both Musk and Weidel believed Hitler, who ruled Germany from 1933 to 1945, was actually a communist.
Yet, upon ascending to power, Hitler swiftly prohibited the Communist Party of Germany.
In his autobiography, Mein Kampf, Hitler expresses a plethora of anti-communist sentiments. He advocated for nationalism and vehemently opposed communism. Hitler even banned socialism and was known to have executed socialists and communists in large numbers. In fact, in 1933, the Dachau concentration camp was exclusively filled with socialists and leftist individuals.
Furthermore, he invaded the Soviet Union, the stronghold of communism, in June 1941. Throughout the text, Hitler also portrays himself as a far-right leader, while deriding Marxism, which he considered to be a Jewish scheme aimed at undermining the “Aryan race” and Germany itself.
Weidel stated, “[Hitler] was a communist, and he viewed himself as a socialist,” while addressing Musk’s inquiries about the alleged connections between the AfD and Nazism, which had been reported in the media. Former AfD EU candidate Maximilian Krah, who has been implicated in various scandals, previously mentioned that SS members were not inherently “criminals.” Additionally, the AfD has been accused of holding secret discussions on the mass deportation of non-ethnic Germans, including citizens.
Weidel remarked, “The greatest achievement following that dreadful period in our past was branding Adolf Hitler as a right[-wing] and conservative figure; in reality, he was the complete opposite. He wasn’t a conservative, nor a libertarian; instead, he was a communist, socialist individual, and we stand in stark contrast to that.”
“Right,” Musk replied succinctly, seemingly in agreement. He later added “yes, exactly,” after Weidel commented that Hitler’s “success” derived from his control over German media.
“You know what Adolf Hitler did? He shut down free speech. He controlled the media, and without that, he would have never achieved success,” she explained, alluding to the fact that the EU was monitoring the discussion for possible violations of Digital Service Act rules. Authorities were assessing whether the conversation had been artificially boosted to influence voters in Germany ahead of the upcoming snap election next month.
In another portion of their “love in,” which Wired also characterized, the two discussed the existence of God, the possibility of life on Mars, and notably how future Martians may eventually rescue Earth.
Weidel aspires to take over as German chancellor from Olaf Scholz, although that seems improbable for the upcoming election. Nevertheless, the AfD is polling in second place at around 20 percent, indicating that they are far from being dismissed as merely a transient populist phenomenon.
Musk, who has voiced support for right-wing leaders such as Tommy Robinson and Nigel Farage in the UK, as well as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, attempted to rationalize his enthusiasm for the AfD—and Weidel specifically—in an editorial for a German newspaper last month.
Musk stated: “The characterization of the AfD as a right-wing extremist party is clearly untrue, especially considering that Alice Weidel, the leader of the party, has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka! Does that resemble Hitler to you? Come on!”
However, German intelligence agencies hold a different perspective. Since 2021, the AfD has been classified as a potential case of extremism at the national level.
