X owner Elon Musk posted (archived) on the site: "Only the AfD can save Germany." Following the post, which had more than 50 million views at the time of this writing, claims abounded about the politics of the political party,

Elon Musk was blasted by German and U.S. lawmakers for backing a German far-right political party on X, formerly Twitter on Thursday.

Elon Musk's endorsement of Germany's far-right AfD party on X sparked condemnation from mainstream politicians, who accused him of election interference and promoting extremism ahead of the elections in February.

It was not the first online intervention by Elon Musk, the entrepreneur and adviser to Donald Trump, on behalf of once-fringe anti-immigrant parties in Europe.

Germany’s intelligence agency has monitored the party, known as Alternative for Germany, for suspected extremism.

Elon Musk has spent the week derailing a bipartisan funding bill, sending the U.S. government hurtling toward a shutdown. But on Friday, the tech billionaire broadened his scope from domestic to international politics with a ringing endorsement of Alternative for Germany, the country’s far-right political party.

Elon Musk posted on X that the only thing that could “save Germany” was the AfD, he was embracing a political party that has moved progressively toward the extreme right since it was founded in 2013.

Vice President-elect J.D. Vance joined Elon Musk in appearing to defend the policies of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, and also seemed to take aim at a pro-Israel Washington think tank whose staffer had criticized the party.