Berlin accuses Elon Musk of seeking to influence Germany's election

• Musk recently endorsed the far-right AfD party, known for its anti-immigrant and nationalist views.

Driving the news: "It is indeed the case that Elon Musk is trying to influence the federal election" through his posts on X and an opinion piece published over the weekend, a government spokesperson said Monday, Reuters reported.

• The spokesperson added that Musk was free to express his opinion, given that "freedom of opinion also covers the greatest nonsense."

State of play: Earlier this month, Musk took to X to claim that "only the AfD can save Germany."

• He later praised the party's stance on cutting taxes and supporting deregulation in an opinion piece published Saturday in the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
• Musk also claimed that Germany was "the brink of economic and cultural collapse" and that the AfD offered a "last spark of hope" for the country.
• The newspaper's head opinion section editor resigned in protest in response to the piece's publication.

Zoom out: Germany is slated to hold snap elections on Feb. 23 after its governing coalition collapsed earlier this month.

Go deeper: Musk endorses Germany's far-right AfD party