Elon Musk says German chancellor should resign after attack at Christmas market

By Andrey Sychev

(Reuters) - Billionaire Elon Musk, set to join U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's administration as an outside adviser, on Friday called on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to resign in response to a deadly attack at a German Christmas market.

"Scholz should resign immediately," Musk posted on X, adding: "Incompetent fool."

Musk was responding in a thread about reports of the incident, in which a car rammed into a crowd of revellers in the German city of Magdeburg. At least two people were killed and dozens injured, local government officials said.

Earlier on Friday, Musk waded into Germany's election campaign, calling the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) the country's saviour.

The AfD is running second in opinion polls and might be able to thwart either a centre-right or centre-left majority, but Germany's mainstream, more centrist parties have vowed to shun support from the AfD at national level.

Europe's leading power is expected to vote on Feb. 23 after a centre-left coalition government led by Scholz collapsed.

"Only the AfD can save Germany," Musk wrote in a post on his social media platform, X.

Musk, the world's richest person, has already expressed support for other anti-immigration parties across Europe.

The German government said it had taken note of Musk's post but declined to give any further comment at its regular press conference.

Musk had already voiced support for the AfD last year, when he attacked the German government's handling of illegal migration.

Last month, Musk called for the sacking of Italian judges who had questioned the legality of government measures to prevent irregular immigration.

And this week Nigel Farage, leader of Britain's right-wing Reform UK party and friend of Trump, posted a photo of himself and Reform's treasurer meeting Musk at Trump's Florida residence, and said he was in talks with Musk about financial support.

(Reporting by Andrey Sychev and Andreas Rinke; Writing by Richard Chang; Editing by Kirsti Knolle, Kevin Liffey and David Gregorio)