Now Musk's escalating criticism and mocking of European leaders and governments, which he has done repeatedly via X, the social media platform he owns, has sparked a backlash from European governments amid increasing calls for regulatory action in Europe against X.

In an interview, Scholz brushed off the comments from Musk that have included him calling the German chancellor a "fool."

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said recent attacks from Elon Musk on him and some of the country’s other leading politicians don’t affect him or the nation’s democracy.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has issued a withering response to billionaire Elon Musk’s endorsement of the country’s far-right party, Alternative for Germany.

The Socialist chancellor’s comments are the latest sally in an ongoing feud with the tech entrepreneur-turned-social media mogul, who has called him “a fool” and claimed he will “lose” the German federal election set for Feb. 23. In this last instance, Musk referred to Scholz as “ Oaf Schitz .”

Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Germany’s election would “not be decided by the owners of social media channels” in his annual New Year’s Eve address.

Billionaire’s animosity toward German mainstream politicians and his affection for the AfD could bode poorly for Germany’s next government.

Scholz was reacting after Musk called the German chancellor a ‘fool’ after his coalition government collapsed in November and later backed the AfD in an opinion piece

Musk's escalating criticism and mocking of European leaders and governments, which he has done repeatedly via X, the social media platform he owns, has sparked a backlash from

Elon Musk praised the co-leader of the German party Alternative for Germany (AfD) as “very reasonable” on Thursday, urging Germans to vote for the far-right party in what is the latest high-profile sign of the tech billionaire’s involvement in European politics.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has endorsed the far-right Alternative for Germany, demanded the release of jailed U.K. anti-Islam extremist Tommy Robinson and called British Prime Minister Keir Starmer an evil tyrant.