‘When Starmer called Trump…’: Elon Musk responds to Macron for his accusations of election interference

Last update:January 7, 2025, 09:25 IST

A growing number of European leaders have expressed frustration with Elon Musk over his controversial posts directed at British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Elon Musk responded after French President Macron joined other European leaders in criticizing the tech mogul over election interference. (Reuters)

Elon Musk responded to French President Emmanuel Macron after the latter accused the tech mogul of interfering in elections, including Germany’s snap legislative elections scheduled for next month.

Macron lent his voice to growing European criticism of Musk, as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz accused the Tesla owner of backing a far-right party and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer criticized him for “spreading lies and disinformation” after days of inflammatory posts by Musk on Historic sexual offenses against children in the north of England.

“Ten years ago, who could have imagined if we had been told that the owner of one of the largest social networks in the world would support a new international reactionary movement and directly intervene in elections, including in Germany,” Macron said, adding that “(US President-elect) Trump knows he has a strong ally in France.”

‘When Starmer called Trump racist’

Responding to Macron’s comments, Musk again criticized Starmer, claiming that the current British prime minister once called Trump a racist and sent members of the Labor Party to campaign against the president-elect this year.

“Oh, like that time Starmer called @realDonaldTrump a racist and said the British government should do everything it can to stop him? Or when Starmer sent members of the British Labor Party to campaign in the United States against President Trump this year?” he said in a post on X.

Notably, Donald Trump’s campaign had accused Starmer’s Labor Party of “blatant foreign interference” ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election, after some volunteers traveled to help Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign. Her team filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission in Washington, calling for an investigation into what it called apparently illegal contributions from the Labor Party to Harris’ campaign.

British political activists have long traveled to the United States ahead of the election; those in the center-left Labor Party tend to support the Democrats, its sister party, and the Conservatives and the right-wing Reform Party support the Republicans. However, Starmer denied that the complaint would damage relations with Trump if the latter were to win.

Elon Musk vs. Keir Starmer

Elon Musk has set his sights on key issues affecting Europeans and Englishmen in recent days, with Starmer being the latest target of his tirade over a child sexual exploitation scandal that emerged during the latter’s tenure as Director of Public Prosecutions. .

The comments pose a major challenge for Starmer’s government as it tries to fend off growing support for the far right while seeking to maintain good relations with the incoming Trump administration. Musk’s tirade has led some opposition politicians in the UK to join the criticism and call for a national investigation.

An enraged Starmer lashed out at Musk on Monday, criticizing those who “spread lies.” “Those who are spreading lies and misinformation as far as possible are not interested in the victims, they are interested in themselves,” Starmer told reporters. , without naming Musk.

“I am prepared to call this out for what it is. “We have seen this playbook many times: encouraging intimidation and threats of violence, in the hope that the media will amplify them,” he added.

A growing number of European leaders have expressed frustration with Musk over his inflammatory posts. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said he found it “worrying” that someone with so much wealth and influence was becoming involved in the politics of European countries.

(with contributions from agencies)

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Washington DC, United States of America (USA)