During a livestreamed chat on X with Alternative for Germany (AfD) co-leader Alice Weidel, billionaire Elon Musk appeared to make a shocking claim.
Musk said Adolf Hitler, the fascist dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945, was a communist, Daily Beast reports.
Musk had been promoting the conversation with Weidel for days, and their meeting had already raised eyebrows due to his known leanings towards right-wing views and public support for the AfD.
The discussion quickly turned strange, with Weidel claiming that “the biggest success after that terrible era in our history was to label Adolf Hitler as right[-wing] and conservative, he was exactly the opposite.” She went on to argue that Hitler “was a communist, a socialist guy, and we are the opposite.”
Musk, appearing to agree, responded with brief affirmations like “yes, exactly.” This claim sharply contrasts with Hitler’s well-documented anti-communist stance, outlined in his autobiography Mein Kampf. In the book, Hitler criticised socialism and Marxism, calling them a Jewish conspiracy aimed at weakening Germany. He banned socialism, executed socialists, and, ironically, invaded the Soviet Union— a communist state—in 1941.
The conversation also touched on free speech and media control, with Weidel claiming that “without [controlling] the media, Hitler would have never been successful.” This statement was made amid concerns from German intelligence agencies, who have been monitoring the chat to ensure it does not breach Digital Service Act rules ahead of next month’s snap election.
Weidel, who is currently hoping to replace Olaf Scholz as German chancellor, has been gaining attention as the AfD remains in second place in the polls, with around 20% support. Musk, meanwhile, has shown support for right-wing figures such as Tommy Robinson in the UK and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. In a recent opinion piece for a German newspaper, Musk defended his ties to the AfD, arguing that their stance is often misrepresented, using Weidel’s same-sex partner from Sri Lanka as an example.
German intelligence agencies, however, have long classified the AfD as a potential extremist group, viewing their positions as dangerous.
