Elon Musk told a rally the German far-right AfD party, just before Holocaust Remembrance Day, that Germany should get over "past guilt."

“In study after study, as well as our lived experiences, X has become a platform that promotes hate, antisemitism, and societal division. Under the leadership of Elon Musk, X has reduced content moderation, promoted white supremacists, and re-platformed purveyors of conspiracy theories.”

Musk's support for AfD has helped what was once a fringe political party enter the mainstream, lifting it up in front of a global audience.

I find it worrying that a man with enormous access to social media and large financial resources is so directly involved in the internal affairs of other countries,” said Norway's prime minister Monday.

"Children should not be guilty of the sins of their parents, let alone their great grandparents," Musk said, apparently referring to Germany's Nazi past.

There is no direct evidence to support the claim that Elon Musk's maternal grandparents, Joshua N. Haldeman and Winnifred "Wyn" Josephine (Fletcher) Haldeman, were "Nazi party members in Canada," nor that they moved to South Africa "because they supported apartheid."

Musk's AfD support, followed a gesture many said resembled a Nazi salute, and came as leaders are due to observe the 80th anniversary of Auschwitz's liberation.

American tech billionaire Elon Musk made a surprise address at the campaign launch for Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as thousands of people gathered across the country to protest the rise of the far-right party.

Readers discuss the Auschwitz anniversary and a Musk speech. Also: Threats against Dr. Fauci; resign, or else; police use of tasers; aging women; an invitation to letter writers.

On today’s Rising, Robby applauds the CIA for finally admitting that covid originated from a lab in Wuhan, China. President Donald Trump dismisses over a dozen attorneys general over the weekend. Colombia's president yields to Trump demands and accepts flights carrying deported Colombian nationals.

The world’s richest person has heaped praise on the Alternative for Deutschland party in recent weeks ahead of the country’s upcoming election.