German government seeks to downplay Musk’s backing of far-right party ahead of general election

BERLIN (AP) — The German government has sought to downplay efforts by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk to get involved in the country’s general election campaign by repeatedly endorsing the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party. Government spokesperson Christiane Hoffmann said Monday that “freedom of expression also includes the greatest nonsense.” Musk caused an uproar over the weekend after backing the AfD in an opinion piece in a major newspaper, leading to the resignation of the paper’s opinion editor in protest. Germany is to vote in an early election on Feb. 23 after Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party governing coalition collapsed last month in a dispute over how to revitalize the country’s stagnant economy.