German Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned Elon Musk’s endorsement of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party ahead of the country’s upcoming elections.

Musk has repeatedly backed AfD on social media platform X, which he owns. Two weeks ago, the US billionaire claimed “only the AfD can save Germany.” Musk also endorsed the party in an op-ed he wrote for the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag at the end of December.

German government officials last week accused Musk of election interference, as his comments come weeks before Germany is set to hold its elections on 23 February.

Scholz has previously ignored Musk’s personal attacks, such as when he called the chancellor an “incompetent fool” and urged him to “resign immediately” following the Magdeburg attack on 20 December, but expressed concern as the tech mogul has seemingly tried to get involved in the general election.

“The crucial thing is that Mr. Musk has supported a partly right-wing extremist party and, as you can see, is not only acting in that direction in this country. And that is something we not only disagree with, I completely reject that,” Sholz said at a press conference on Sunday.

The German chancellor added that it was not the first time the SDP, his own party, had to defend themselves against “rich entrepreneurs”. What is new, however, is the role of media and algorithms in shaping popular opinions.

“What is certainly new is the fact that it is a global media entrepreneur. What is certainly new is the fact that with algorithms, it is not certain how opinion is formed, which is organised by the structures of these systems.”

Scholz also rejected reports claiming he was planning a meeting with Russian President Putin.

“That is a false claim. You can’t do that. It is deeply indecent. There is no evidence for this. No one can report anything that no one has even thought about. And therefore, I think even upright people should be outraged when false allegations are made.”