# Elon Musk — "Too much focus on past guilt" > [!quote] "There is too much focus on past guilt, and we need to move beyond that." > — Elon Musk, by video to the AfD campaign launch in Halle, Germany, January 25, 2025 In the same address: "Children should not be guilty of the sins of their parents, let alone their great grandparents," and "It's good to be proud of German culture, German values, and not to lose that" to a diluting multiculturalism. He closed: "I think you're really the best hope for Germany." ## Context Musk appeared on a video link at the [[AfD]]'s federal campaign launch in Halle, in eastern Germany, before about 4,500 supporters, with [[Alice Weidel]] on stage. It came five days after his stiff-armed gesture at the Trump inauguration celebration (see [[Roman Salute Revival]]) and two days before the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Chancellor Olaf Scholz rejected the remarks. Large counter-demonstrations followed, reportedly about 100,000 at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate. ## Why this matters Germany's postwar political culture treats confronting the Nazi past as a civic obligation. The radical wing of the AfD has made attacking that obligation a signature theme. Musk gave the argument an American billionaire's voice at the party's own rally. It is the clearest single statement in the [[Musk AfD Campaign]], because it goes beyond defending the party to endorsing the historical revisionism its critics object to. ## Verification - **Reporting:** NBC News; *Jerusalem Post*; NPR (January 25–27, 2025). The wording is reported identically across outlets. - **Status:** Verbatim (delivered in English). ## Related quotes - [[Elon Musk - the last spark of hope]] — the December 2024 op-ed - [[Elon Musk - you have said the actual truth]] — the 2023 Great Replacement endorsement