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Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Elon Musk is under fire after publicly backing a far-right political party in Germany, suggesting the current government should not be re-elected over its position on the current migrant crisis in Europe. The billionaire made the comment in a post on the X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter he purchased for $44 billion last year.
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"Is the German public aware of this?" Musk asks in the re-post, which was first shared by a far-right media outlet Radio Genoa and shows a video clip of German non-governmental organizations rescuing migrants from ships in the Mediterranean Sea.
"These NGOs are subsidized by the German government. Let's hope AfD wins the elections to stop this European suicide," the account continued in the original post.
AfD is a far-right political party in Germany that regularly shares written posts and videos furthering its anti-immigration stance.
The party's ties extend to right-wing extremists, including those with "outright neo-Nazi nature."
Germany's Federal Foreign Office responded in English to Musk in a post of its own.
In answering Musk's question, "Is the German public aware of this?" the foreign office responded, "Yes. And it's called saving lives."
There are currently 10 German-flagged NGO ships in the Mediterranean, helping save migrants crossing from North Africa and the Middle East. Those saved from the water are frequently taken to the closest port of call in Italy, a situation which Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has criticized as "interference" in the country's domestic affairs.
Rome instead wants the NGOs to take the rescued migrants to Germany.
The news comes a week after Pope Francis condemned "alarmist propaganda" surrounding the influx of North African and Middle Eastern migrants into European countries.
