Elon Musk has branded a former European Union commissioner a “tyrant” and accused him of meddling in European elections.
An online war of words broke out when the world’s richest man accused the EU’s former commissioner for digital affairs, Thierry Breton, of being a “tyrant of Europe”.
The attack came in the wake of an interview Mr Breton gave to French broadcaster BFMTV/RMC about whether the far-right party AfD could win the German general election in February.
A clip of the interview was posted on X from the account Visegrád 24, which according to media outlet Euronews has been accused of publishing fake news by the Polish investigative media outlet OKO.press.
The clip was accompanied by the comment: “Former European Commissioner Thierry Breton says the EU has mechanisms to nullify a potential election victory of the AfD: ‘We did it in Romania and we will obviously do it in Germany if necessary'”.
Mr Musk, who has backed AfD, seized on the post and shared it with his 212 million followers under the comment: “The astounding absurdity of [Thierry Breton] as tyrant of Europe”.
He then posted again, sharing a tweet from an X account named Daily Romania which falsely claimed Mr Breton had admitted in the interview that Brussels was responsible for cancelling the result of Romania’s presidential election.
Romania’s constitutional court voided the election two days before the second round as state documents showed the frontrunner, Calin Georgescu, benefitted from an unfair social media campaign believed to have been orchestrated by Russia, according to Reuters. The Kremlin has denied it and Mr Georgescu has called for the result to be reinstated.
Mr Musk posted Daily Romania’s tweet, commenting: “Tyrannical behaviour”. But Mr Breton shot back at the claims, insisting the EU has no mechanism to nullify an election result anywhere in the bloc.
He said: “Tyrant of Europe? Wow! But No [Elon Musk]: the EU has no mechanism to nullify any election anywhere in (the) EU. Not at all.
“[W]hat is said in the video related only to the application of the DSA and its moderation obligations. Lost in translation… or another (example of) fake news?”
DSA stands for the EU’s Digital Services Act, which demands online platforms clamp down on illegal content.
Mr Breton said in the interview with BFMTV/RMC that Europe should keep its cool and enforce its laws when there’s a risk they will be circumvented and when they can be lead to interference if not enforced, according to a translation of his remarks published by Euronews.
Breton added: “We did it in Romania and we will obviously have to do it if it is necessary in Germany.”
Musk has targeted countries in Europe in recent weeks, including the UK and Germany. The owner of X has accused the European Union of censorship over the bloc’s digital rules. In 2023, Britain also passed major legislation to regulate social media, search engine, messaging, gaming, dating, pornography and file-sharing platforms.
It gives media watchdog Ofcom the power to fine firms that fail to meet these duties – potentially up to billions of pounds for the largest sites – and in serious cases can seek clearance to block access to a site in the UK.
Mr Musk has waded into British politics on numerous occasions in recent weeks, including by attacking Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer over the Government’s opposition to another national inquiry into grooming gangs.
In other posts he has expressed support for Reform UK – but called for its leader Nigel Farage to step aside – and asked his followers whether the US should “liberate” Britain from its “tyrannical government”.
He has also been reported to be looking into ways to help remove Sir Keir from office and was previously said to be considering a large donation to Reform UK, something senior figures in the party have dismissed.