Elon Musk sheds tears as he shakes up politics in Europe. What is his endgame?
As if having the ear of incoming US President Donald Trump wasn’t enough, tech billionaire Elon Musk went on a tear this week, bashing European politicians on both the left and right and using posts on social media platform X. disrupting politics across the continent.
The French president, politicians in Germany and European Commission officials have all come under fire from Musk online over their election and alleged hypocrisy. But what caught the eye were his blistering attacks on UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other UK politicians.
In a 72-hour period that began over the weekend, Musk proposed that King Charles oust Starmer and call for a new election, falsely claiming that Starmer was “deeply complicit in mass rape” and should be sent to prison.
Musk also wrote that it may be up to the United States to “liberate” Britons from their “tyrannical government.”
The charges stem from Starmer’s role in the ugliest chapter in Britain’s recent judicial history, involving the prosecution of gangs of mostly British Pakistani men who groomed and sexually abused thousands of girls between about 1997 and 2013.
Starmer has been head of the country’s Crown prosecution system since 2008 and has overseen many prosecutions. Musk blamed Starmer for inaction without any evidence and in the face of repeated inquiries to the contrary.
A 2022 inquiry led by Professor Alexis Jay, a Scottish child protection expert, concluded that although there was no cover-up by the prosecution, the local authorities, not Starmer, were at fault.
In recent days, Elon Musk took to X to criticize the UK government’s handling of a historic babysitting scandal. UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting said Musk’s views were “misjudged and certainly misinformed”. Musk also recently expressed his support for Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, the founder of the far-right English Defense League.
Musk also slammed Jess Phillips, the Labor cabinet minister responsible for women’s protection, calling her a “rape genocide” apologist for refusing to heed calls for another national inquiry – although Jay said a new inquiry would only delay implementation of the recommendations. his report.
Tim Bale, a long-time monitor of UK politics at Queen Mary University of London, says Musk’s inflammatory accusations have put Labor on the defensive and given new ammunition to its rivals on the political right.
“In all the years I’ve covered British politics, I can’t remember an incident like this,” Bale told CBC News. “(Musk’s) goal is to destabilize the British government and also to emphasize to Donald Trump that this is not an administration he wants to be friends with.”
France, Norway raise concerns
Starmer’s Labor Party is one of the few left-of-centre governments left in Europe, and recent elections have seen seismic shifts to the right, including in Italy, Slovakia and the Netherlands.
Germany’s Social Democrats are next to fall, elections will be held in February and chancellor Olaf Scholz is expected to lose.
Musk has backed the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and said he plans to use X to debate its leader, Alice Weidel, a fierce critic of multiculturalism. There have been some well-known AfD members removed for not condemning Nazi war crimes.
On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron criticized Musk for “directly interfering” in European elections. Other EU leaders want to see regulators impose fines and other legal sanctions on Musk for misusing the social media platform.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre was quoted by Reuters as saying that Musk’s political influence was deeply concerning, and a Spanish government spokesman said on Tuesday that social media platforms must always act with “absolute neutrality”.
Bale says Musk’s intervention may be aimed at forcing unfriendly European governments to back down on tougher laws that could hurt tech companies. The UK, for example, has introduced a new digital regulation act with enhanced controls on big tech companies and their business models.
“Maybe (Musk) will make it harder for the British government to regulate social media platforms,” ​​Bale said.
The German government is accusing Elon Musk of trying to influence the upcoming election after he expressed his support for the far-right AfD party in an article. Musk’s article was published in Welt am Sonntag over the weekend, prompting criticism from politicians and the resignation of the paper’s opinion editor.
The battle with Farage
But having friendly relations with Musk does not guarantee avoiding his wrath.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who dined with Musk at Trump’s Mar-a-Largo estate just three weeks ago and expected the tech mogul to make a big donation to his increasingly popular party, suddenly found himself on the sidelines, as Musk said. for his replacement as party chairman.
Reform the policies the UK champions, such as deep cuts in immigration, scrapping net-zero emissions targets and drastic cuts in taxes and spending.
The rift between the two men stems from Musk’s insistence that far-right activist and anti-Islam crusader Tommy Robinson be released from prison. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, is a former member of an openly fascist British political party who has served several prison terms, including for forgery and contempt of court.
Both Farage and Starmer – who rarely agree on much – argue that Robinson’s use of Facebook Live and breach of a judge’s order by broadcasting banned details of a 2018 Huddersfield community sex abuse case almost resulted in a mistrial.
Farage, who is trying to soften his image of UK Reform to attract more Conservative supporters, said courting Robinson could do “huge damage” to his party. But there is Musk he tweeted Robinson deserves to be freed – and Farage should be sacked.
Starmer claps
In one of his strongest public statements since becoming prime minister last summer, Starmer took aim at Musk on Tuesday, accusing the world’s richest man of spreading lies.
“I’m prepared to say what it is. We’ve seen this playbook time and time again, with threats of intimidation and violence, we expect the media to amplify it,” Starmer said. “When the venom of the far right poses serious threats to Jess Phillips and others, a line is crossed in my book.”
Many in the UK have accused Musk of inciting tempers and inciting violence after three young people were killed at a dance class in Southport, England, this summer. Musk retweeted conspiracy theories from far-right accounts linking the event to mass immigration and suggested a “civil war” in Britain was imminent.
The extent to which Musk’s interventions have affected the British public is hard to gauge. YouGov poll results after Musk’s social media attacks reposted A recent poll in November showed Musk was unpopular with 64 percent of the British public at the time.
On the other hand, Labor may worry that Musk’s attacks – true or not – could still hurt.
The Labor cabinet minister responded to Musk’s latest accusations announces People who fail to report child sexual abuse could face criminal prosecution as part of a new law to be implemented at the end of 2025 – Prof. One of the recommendations in Jay’s report.
For Starmer and other European politicians, attacking Musk comes with risks, says Bale of Saint Mary’s.
“They know that Musk is really close to Trump, and by hurting Musk, they can turn Trump against them.”
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