Imagine a politician fighting a general election being granted the opportunity of a publicly livestreamed chat with one of the most powerful figures in the world, only to be heard wriggling out of it after 70 minutes. “I don’t know what to continue (with),” Alice Weidel said to Elon Musk, in effect shutting down the unique audience the owner of X had gifted the AfD leader on Thursday evening.

Admittedly, the rambling conversation felt longer than 70 minutes. It missed moderation and while Musk and Weidel giggled a lot and agreed on almost every issue, the sense that they were boring each other became increasingly acute as they droned on about space travel and religious belief rather than the alleged decline of western civilisation. Had Adolf Hitler not been mentioned, the highly anticipated live talk would have been shocking only for being so unnewsworthy.

Yes, Musk once again openly voiced his support for the far-right AfD in the forthcoming federal elections on 23 February. And the German authorities have yet to determine whether this broadcast was a case of unfair and illegal party support during an election campaign.

The majority verdict in Germany seems to be that Weidel embarrassed herself and damaged the party’s chances. I would argue that this is not the case. At worst, it was a missed chance for Weidel.

Some mocked her for her English. One TikTok user said she had “English like Lothar Matthäus”. Matthäus, once a national hero and the best footballer in the world, became a laughing stock when a late-career move to a team in New York in 2000 revealed his poor English.

But ultimately, being ridiculed by the mainstream political commentariat does not change the trajectory the AfD is on as it seeks to double its representation in the........

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