Elon Musk’s bid to distance himself from Nazi Germany was blown off course after he appeared at an Alternative for Germany election campaign event.
The Tesla billionaire, who has been in the headlines after making a very dubious ‘salute’ during Donald Trump’s inauguration party, tuned in live via video link to a hall of 4,500 people in Halle in eastern Germany on Saturday, speaking publicly in support of the far-right party for the second time in as many weeks.
He urged Germans to move “past guilt” in a week when he caused uproar after he made a gesture that drew online comparisons to a Nazi salute.
Addressing the far-right crowd alongside party leader Alice Weidel on Saturday, the US billionaire said that “children should not be guilty of the sins of their parents, let alone their great grandparents,” apparently referring to Germany’s Nazi past.
A photo taken at the event humorously captured Musk with his upper lip partly covered by a flag, creating the illusion of a moustache styled in the shape of the former leader of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party.
The photo has prompted reminders of a Father Ted episode when the fictional priest had to fend off rumours that he is a racist.
At one point, Ted stands at the window, which has a perfectly square black piece of dirt on it, and waves to the Yin family, whom he invited round to convince them that he is not a racist.
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