Tech billionaire Elon Musk added fuel to Germany’s political storm by posting “!!” in response to speculation about the sudden deaths of seven Alternative for Germany (AfD) candidates ahead of next week’s local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia. He later urged Germans online to back the far-right party.
The controversy began when seven AfD candidates—four main contenders and three reserves—died in recent weeks from causes ranging from heart attacks and kidney failure to a long-term illness and one suicide.
German authorities have repeatedly stressed that no evidence of foul play has been found, describing the fatalities as statistically possible among 20,000 candidates running nationwide.
Still, AfD leaders and supporters argue the timing is “almost impossible” by chance. Alice Weidel, the party’s co-leader, shared posts amplifying those doubts, while AfD’s Kay Gottschalk urged restraint, calling for investigations but warning against feeding conspiracy theories.
