Berlin, Germany — On his public journey to embracing Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany, Elon Musk has frequently amplified the online content of one young supporter of the party – climate change and COVID-19 lockdown sceptic Naomi Seibt.
Shortly after polls closed in June for the European Parliament elections, in which the AfD performed strongly, Seibt announced that she had voted for the party in a post to her tens of thousands of followers on X, Musk’s social media platform. An hour later, Musk responded, opens new tab with a question.
RELATED NEWS : Palisade, Los Angeles fire out of control, 30,000 residents evacuated
“Why is there such a negative reaction from some about AfD?” the Tesla chief executive asked in a public reply. He followed up with a private message asking for more details, Seibt told Reuters in an interview. Reuters has not seen the private message.
“I explained to him the AfD is not similar to the Nazi ideology or Hitler, but is like the 19th century liberal nationalist movement … because they wanted to be free from authoritarians in their own territory,” said the 24-year-old, who posts in English, describing their private exchange.
The billionaire entrepreneur responded with a humorous Roman Empire-themed meme, said Seibt, who has around 368,000 followers on X.
Since asking Seibt about the AfD in June, Musk has engaged publicly with the self-professed libertarian more than 40 times, following two previous engagements with her on the platform earlier that year, putting her among a small group of European influencers whose content he has heavily interacted with in recent months, according to a Reuters review of his posts on X.
Musk, who has more than 211 million followers on the platform, did not respond to requests for comment for this story. Reuters could not establish how influential Seibt’s content has been on his thinking.
Seibt, who rose to prominence several years ago posting content to counter climate activist Greta Thunberg, said Musk has sent her a handful direct messages asking about German politics in the same period. Reuters has not seen these posts.
Reuters could not establish to what extent he is acting at the behest of Trump, who has appointed him the joint head of a new government efficiency department. On Tuesday, the president-elect said “Elon’s doing a good job” when asked for his reaction to Musk’s statements about foreign affairs in Europe and elsewhere.
Seibt has dedicated herself to online activism since dropping out of university after one semester of economics, she said.
In 2019, she met British climate sceptic Christopher Monckton who connected her with the Heartland Institute, a U.S.-based think tank that has worked on climate change denial and cast doubt on the harm caused by passive smoking.
Heartland paid her $4,000 a month for three months, in what she described as a scholarship, she said. Heartland did not respond to a request for comment.
Musk’s takeover of X has helped elevate her profile.
“When I saw in 2022 that Twitter was being bought by Elon, I didn’t know what was going to happen,” she said. “But I knew one thing: I could trust this Elon Musk guy.”
Source : REUTERS/AGENCIES | Follow Us: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Youtube |