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A growing number of European leaders have expressed frustration with Elon Musk over his controversial posts targeting UK PM Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Elon Musk responded after French President Macron joined other European leaders in criticising the tech mogul over election interference. (Reuters)
Elon Musk has hit back at French President Emmanuel Macron after the latter accused the tech mogul of election interference, including in Germany’s snap legislative elections scheduled for next month.
Macron lent his voice to growing European criticism of Musk, as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz accused the Tesla owner of backing a far-right party and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer slammed him for “spreading lies and misinformation” following days of incendiary posts by Musk on historical sex offences against children in northern England.
“Ten years ago, who could have imagined it if we had been told that the owner of one of the largest social networks in the world would support a new international reactionary movement and intervene directly in elections, including in Germany,” Macron said, adding that “(US President-elect) Trump knows he has a strong ally in France”.
‘When Starmer Called Trump A Racist’
Hitting back at Macron’s remarks, Musk once again turned the heat on Starmer, claiming that the current British PM once called Trump a racist and sent Labour Party members to campaign against the President-elect this year.
“Oh like that time Starmer called @realDonaldTrump a racist and said the British government should do everything to stop him? Or when Starmer sent British Labour Party members to campaign in the US against President Trump this year?” he said in a post on X.
Notably, Donald Trump’s campaign had accused Starmer’s Labour Party of “blatant foreign interference” ahead of the November 5 presidential election after some volunteers travelled to help campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris. His team filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission in Washington, calling for an investigation into what it termed apparently illegal contributions from Labour to the Harris campaign.
British political activists have long travelled to the US ahead of elections, with those from the centre-left Labour Party typically supporting the Democrats, its sister party, and Conservatives and the right-wing Reform backing the Republicans. However, Starmer denied that the complaint would damage relations with Trump if the latter won.
Elon Musk Vs Keir Starmer
Elon Musk has set his sights on key issues affecting Europeans and the English in recent days, with Starmer being the latest target of his tirade over a child sexual exploitation scandal that emerged during the latter’s tenure as Director of Public Prosecutions.
The comments pose a major challenge for Starmer’s government, as it tries to fend off growing support for the far-right while also seeking to maintain good relations with Trump’s incoming administration. Musk’s tirade has prompted some opposition politicians in the UK to join the criticism and call for a national probe.
An enraged Starmer slammed Musk on Monday by slamming those “spreading lies”. “Those that are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible, they’re not interested in victims, they’re interested in themselves,” Starmer told reporters, without naming Musk.
“I’m prepared to call out this for what it is. We’ve seen this playbook many times: the whipping up of intimidation and threats of violence, hoping that the media will amplify it,” he added.
A growing number of European leaders have expressed frustration with Musk over his incendiary posts. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said he found it “worrying” that someone with so much wealth and influence was getting involved in the politics of European countries.
(with inputs from agencies)
- Location :
Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)
