Germany’s far-right AfD party just posted its best result since World War Two, and the winning candidate publicly thanked Elon Musk for backing him.
Story Snapshot
- The AfD won roughly 44% of the vote in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, its strongest showing in decades.
- Lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund thanked Elon Musk on X after Musk reacted to the win with “Gut gemacht!” — German for “well done.”
- It marks the second time in two years Musk has publicly cheered on AfD leaders, after congratulating party chief Alice Weidel in February 2025.
- German officials and foreign governments, including Russia, have weighed in publicly on the result.
Musk Praises Historic AfD Result
Elon Musk reacted to the AfD’s Saxony-Anhalt victory by posting “Gut gemacht!” on X, the platform he owns. Ulrich Siegmund, the party’s lead candidate in the state, thanked Musk directly, calling his input a “clear and highly important perspective” on Germany’s political direction. The exchange played out in public, in real time, right after the vote count came in.
Multiple outlets reported the same core facts: Musk’s comment, Siegmund’s reply, and the scale of the AfD’s win. One outlet called it a “historic victory,” while another noted it puts the German far right closer to running a state than at any point since 1945.
That kind of result doesn’t happen by accident, and it explains why the online back-and-forth drew so much attention so fast.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk applauded the German far right's win in Saxony-Anhalt yesterday, a result that sent shockwaves through the country's political establishment and around Europe. https://t.co/6h1aSz03tK
— POLITICOEurope (@POLITICOEurope) September 7, 2026
A Pattern of Public Support
This isn’t the first time Musk has publicly cheered the AfD. In February 2025, Musk congratulated party leader Alice Weidel after the AfD doubled its support in Germany’s federal election.
Weidel responded on X with “Many thanks, @elonmusk!” after saying she’d missed a call from him. Musk also spoke at an AfD rally in Saxony-Anhalt that same year, so his latest comment fits a pattern rather than a one-off.
For those watching from afar, the story lands as proof that establishment efforts to shame outsider movements into silence don’t always work.
Voters in Saxony-Anhalt turned out in large numbers for a party that Germany’s mainstream has tried to isolate through a political “firewall,” refusing to govern with it under any circumstance. That strategy hasn’t stopped the AfD from growing; if anything, the numbers suggest it’s backfiring.
Global Reaction Follows the Vote
The result drew reaction well beyond Germany’s borders. Coverage noted that Russian officials praised the outcome, while other European leaders expressed alarm over what it could mean for the continent’s political direction.
That kind of instant international attention shows how closely allies and rivals alike are tracking Europe’s rightward shifts, especially in a country as central to the European Union as Germany.
German mainstream parties have accused Musk before of trying to influence their elections, a charge Berlin raised during the 2024 federal campaign.
Researchers who study social media’s role in German politics have generally found that platforms like X mostly drive attention and engagement for the AfD rather than directly swinging votes on their own. Still, attention matters, and Musk’s reach on X gives the party a megaphone most rivals simply don’t have.
What Comes Next for Saxony-Anhalt
The AfD’s next challenge is turning a strong vote total into actual governing power, something Germany’s firewall politics have blocked so far. Mainstream parties have shown little appetite for forming coalitions with the AfD, even after a result this large.
That leaves open the question of whether Saxony-Anhalt ends up with a functioning government reflecting the will of nearly half its voters, or another standoff between the ballot box and Berlin’s political class.
Whatever happens next, the exchange between Musk and Siegmund captured a moment will recognize: outsider candidates winning big, and the people who backed them refusing to stay quiet about it.
First Thing: German far-right leader thanks Elon Musk after landmark election win praised by Russia – The Guardian
Of course. Musk and far-right German politicians salute the same way. https://t.co/PidmZkLfUA
— Nicholas (@nikstift) September 8, 2026
Sources:
thehill.com, theguardian.com, yahoo.com, aljazeera.com
