Elon Musk never seems to have any reservations about speaking his mind. This time he may be creating an international controversy. And European leaders don’t quite know how to respond to him:

Elon Musk is throwing grenades into Europe’s political mainstream over issues ranging from immigration to free speech, creating a dilemma for governments as they try to respond to the tech billionaire and key adviser to the incoming Trump administration.

In recent days and weeks, Musk has weighed in with a series of incendiary social-media posts on European politics, including supporting a far-right party ahead of an election in Germany, accusing the British prime minister of being complicit in rape, denouncing judges in Italy and slamming the European Commission.

The first two issues, in Germany and Britain, seem to be causing the most controversy.

Musk has made comments supporting a right-wing, minority political party (AfD), particularly lauding their positions on Muslims and immigrants. Just recently, the AfD came under fire after a member of the party argued Holocaust denial is free speech:

Right-wing lawmakers in the southern German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg on Tuesday rejected calls to expel a party member facing accusations of anti-Semitism, instead launching a review of his articles and books.

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has caused outrage in the political mainstream with critical remarks about Muslims and immigrants, but has gained in opinion polls due to public disquiet over the government's open-door policy for refugees.

Wolfgang Gedeon, a former doctor turned AfD politician, has said that denying the Nazi Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews were killed, is a legitimate expression of opinion. Holocaust denial is a crime in Germany.

It’s easy to discern why AfD and Musk have raised the ire of many regarding Gedeon’s position on the Holocaust. What most articles fail to mention is that the AfD party has split in two, and a decision was made to do a full investigation of Gedeon’s written work. It appears that at least one person has spoken out about Gedeon and anti-Semitism, while a  number of others distanced themselves:

Thirteen lawmakers from the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the southern German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg had earlier quit the AfD's regional parliamentary group after ten other members did not support a motion to expel Gedeon. Joerg Meuthen, the leader of the AfD parliamentary group in Baden-Wuerttemberg and the party's co-chair at the national level, led Tuesday's split. He and 12 others left the regional parliamentary group, which originally comprised 23 lawmakers.

‘Anti-Semitism cannot and must not have any place in the AfD,’ Meuthen said.

At this time, it’s unclear whether Gedeon will be expelled and if he is, when that might happen. Meanwhile, Musk maintains his support of the AfD and its positions. The Holocaust denial appears to be only Gedeon’s position and not AfD’s at this time.

The other storm in Britain entailed a period where girls in a particular section of Britain were sexually abused, and no arrests were made. Musk is outraged at the lack of early action by law enforcement and the chief prosecutor, Starmer:

Britain has been a particular target for Musk. His X feed over the weekend was dominated by posts criticizing Starmer for not doing more to prosecute gangs made up mostly of Muslim men of Pakistani heritage who groomed and raped more than a thousand young girls in towns across Britain in a scandal that dates back to over a decade.

Independent reviews criticized British police for turning a blind eye to the gangs, partly because they didn’t believe the victims and partly because officers feared they would be accused of racism if they acted against the men from minority backgrounds.

Starmer said he reopened several closed cases linked to the child grooming rings when he was chief prosecutor and overhauled the way such crimes were prosecuted. 

In a possible sign of Musk’s clout, U.K. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, whom Musk had sharply criticized in recent days, late Monday unveiled legislation making it a crime to cover up or fail to report allegations of child sexual abuse.

(See also “Will Elon Musk bring down the British government over the grooming gang cover-up?” by Andrea Widburg.)

Still, the criticism has been made that only some cases were re-opened, and it’s unclear if cases continued to be re-opened after he left the prosecutor’s position. 

As you can see, Elon Musk is creating quite a stir. His postings on X raise many questions: Is he only exercising his First Amendment rights to free speech? Does he get some satisfaction from antagonizing Western countries? Is he trying to influence European policy?

I have no problem with Elon Musk’s actions. If nothing else, he is demonstrating America’s commitment not only to free speech, but also the rule of law. The Europeans have put their own restrictions on speech, and have also made gross errors in how they’ve handled immigration. And if Elon interferes with President Trump’s plans, I’m sure he will hear about it.

I think the following comment best defines what might be happening:

And his moves beg the question of whether he’s working at Trump’s direction, is seen by the president-elect as a useful vanguard of disruption or could soon end up irking the 47th president as he tries to put his stamp on the world.

I’m excitedly watching to see how Musk’s efforts will shake things up, and how European leaders will respond.

Image: Free image, Pixabay license.