Outraged by Elon Musk’s claim that Germans today should “move beyond” the guilt over their country’s Nazi past, Polish sports minister Sławomir Nitras has insisted that “no normal Pole should buy a Tesla anymore”—not that many could afford one anyway.
Poland offers only a small viable market for the tech billionaire’s automotive company, which Nitras told consumers (what consumers?) to “boycott.” Politico, however, went along with the threat, suggesting that Musk’s comments “could start impacting his financial interests.”
Liberal prime minister Donald Tusk said on the same day—referencing, though not specifically naming Musk—that comments made at the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party’s campaign rally “sounded all too familiar and ominous, especially only hours before the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.” Among them, that Germans “need to move beyond” the guilt of the past.
Polish journalist Samuel Pereira wondered how this matched up with Tusk’s own effective waiving of reparations which critics say are owed to Poland by Germany. It is possible, then, that such criticisms actually have more to do with a wider European frustration with Musk’s platforming of conservative voices on his social media platform X.
Musk, the head of Donald Trump’s new U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has taken an increased interest in European politics over recent months, even noting this week—specifically on declining birth rates—that “something needs to change or Europe … (and most of Earth) will disappear!”
Establishment leaders are noticeably shaken by his open support for right-wing opposition parties, including Nigel Farage’s Reform in the UK and Germany’s AfD, and are working hard to limit his powers.
Musk has yet to respond publicly to Nitras’ statement. Perhaps he doesn’t feel he needs to.
