The festive season saw the beginning of Elon Musk’s performances in the European political theatre. It is unsurprising - the South African billionaire contributed significant capital and platform to Trump’s 2024 Presidential campaign, which sauntered back to the White House this November and won all 7 hotly contested swing states. Such success has given Musk the arrogance to start throwing his weight around European politics espousing far-right rhetoric, developing a turbulently supportive relationship with Reform UK, and endorsing the newly emerging far-right party of Germany, the AFD (Alternative for Deutschland). With Orban, Farage, and Le Pen(among other right-wing populists) already regrettably occupying the European stage, the last thing Europe needs is another jester this side of the Atlantic.
Musk’s recent forays into European politics include his aforementioned endorsement of far-right parties, alongside swathes of attacks against Labour ministers. He dubbed Jess Philips, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women, a “rape genocide apologist”, suggesting Prime Minister Keir Starmer was “complicit in the crimes” concerned in the recent child grooming scandal. These heinous attacks stem from Labour’s decision to reject the Conservative’s amendment to the ‘Children’s Wellbeing and School’s Bill’ to include a national inquiry into child sexual abuse and demonstrates how poorly informed Musk is when it comes to the Politics of Europe. The Tory’s amendment was intended as a wrecking ball to curtail the whole piece of legislation (which is focused on the curbing of academic freedoms and ending forced school academisation), and fails to consider such an inquiry concluded in 2022 with the Conservative administration enacting none of its recommendations. Hence, Musk’s production of vulgar sludge criticising members of the British government, without a real understanding of the political forces involved, only works to stoke tensions within Britain through ill-informed accusations.
His notoriety and ownership of social-media platform, 'X' allows Musk an unreasonable political platform. Utilising this, he portrays himself as a crusader of free speech who fights against established bureaucrats and political entities, but in reality, he is a technocratic populist who uses politics as a means of advancing his interests. When Musk is considered a self-serving elitist, the comfort he finds in disinformation and half-truths makes all too much sense. It is as if watching Trump has encouraged Musk to use his well-known status to exert influence across the pond in a similar fashion. With this in mind, it shouldn’t be too long until he starts blindly accusing European migrants of eating cats, or another beloved household pet.
When describing Musk’s newfound European political interest, it can only be described as political insanity. Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine is correct in referring to the attention Musk receives as completely “ridiculous”. Across Europe, we already have too many populist figures who use misinformation, disinformation, and victim rhetoric to incite social conflict and cultural wars merely for the sake of advancing their notoriety in various Parliaments, Assemblies, and Cabinets. So why do we allow Musk to further his goals through half-informed opinions about matters he knows nothing about? His opinion only holds value as a result of his vast wealth, a horrid reflection of the elitism which still plagues democracy in America, and which is evidently growing in prominence within Europe as well.
The threat individuals, like Musk, who have found success in imitating the rhetoric and ethical compass of the most dangerous political figures of our time pose cannot be understated. They are agents of polarisation and hatred, who use fear as a means of generating support. After all, one of Musk’s first wades into European politics was his depiction of Britain as the Soviet Union following last year’s summer riots. He criticised Starmer’s response, in which he warned attacks on Muslim communities would receive the full force of the law, remarking he should be “concerned with attacks on *all communities”. Another misguided, misinformed comment aimed at fearful individuals, bending the words of an elected official to only further his political base, as well as that of the organisations he stands with. Exemplifying immorality and a lack of decency, allowing individuals like Musk to plague political discourse has only hurt politics, eroding Britain’s democratic values of well-informed electorates behaving with tolerance and acceptance. If we do not consider how we prevent the rise of these destructive populist figures, especially those with the calibre of finances and connections as Musk, they may well destroy these values altogether.
By Cianan Sheekey.
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