The magazine Der Spiegel continues the issue of the billionaire businessman’s opinion piece in its new issue Elon Musk in the German newspaper “WELT”, with which the close associate of the US president-elect Donald Trump calls on Germans to vote for the far-right “Alternative for Germany” (AfD), describing it as the “last glimmer of hope” for the country, which is “on the brink of economic and cultural destruction”.

According to the magazine, WELT’s leadership team’s choice to publish Elon Musk’s article caused strong backlash within the paper. After the publication of the text, the head of the opinion articles department Eva Marie Kogel moreover, she made it known that she had already submitted her resignation. “The fact that ‘WELT’ had to be given space for Musk to analyze his cynical position was irritating. Even more so when the first editors found that it was an article that one would call indulgently simplistic. The fact that Musk used exaggerations, that he provided almost no verifiable argument for his claim other than weak airs, for example how the AfD chancellor candidate Alice Weidel, as a homosexual living with her Sri Lankan partner, she could not seriously remind anyone of Hitler.

“An editor would have been shocked by this during the editing process,” the magazine comments, revealing that there have been repeated attempts by editors to reverse the leadership’s decision. On December 26, 50 editors emailed the leadership team asking them not to publish the article, arguing that it would damage WELT’s reputation and that it was inconsistent with the Axel Springer publishing house’s code of ethics, which states that “ we reject political and religious extremism and all forms of racism and sexual discrimination”. THE Robin Alexander, a member of the newspaper’s editorial team, in his written response to the message, appealed to the leadership to take seriously the workers’ position. “These are your people. They are WELT. And they are just right,” he emphasized. The next day, when some editors said they would distance themselves from the decision to publish the article, the leadership, according to Spiegel, “is said to have threatened them that they would then have to live with the consequences.”

Spiegel also notes that who originally asked Elon Musk to write the opinion piece for WELT remains a secret. However, the magazine recalls its relationship with the head of the publishing house Axel Springer, which includes WELT and BILD, among others. Matias Deppner. In 2020, he himself interviewed Elon Musk and described him as the “greatest visionary on the planet”. In 2022 Mr. Deppner tweeted: “Why don’t you buy it? We will manage it for you. And we will create a real platform for free expression.” “Interesting idea,” Elon Musk had replied. “I mean it. It is possible. It will be fun”, repeated Mr. Deppner. In 2024 the head of the powerful German publishing house celebrated his 60th birthday, with Elon Musk among the guests. “Among the editors of WELT today there is concern that the publisher is now more than ever willing to sacrifice his journalistic business for his private connections. The discussion is like gasoline for a house that has been burning for a long time,” writes SPIEGEL characteristically and reports that a few weeks ago, Axel Springer announced its intention to merge the editorial staff of WELT with that of the German divisions of its subsidiaries in the US, Business Insider and Politicowithout specifying exactly what the editors will do in the future, but hinting that there will be job cuts.