# Elon Musk and Europe’s hard right figures hail AfD’s ‘historic’ election win in German state as leader predicts Chancellor Merz will fall by Christmas

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/elon-musk-and-europes-hard-right-figures-hail-afds-historic-election-win-in-german-state-as-leader-predicts-chancellor-merz-will-fall-by-christmas/
- Published: 2026-09-07T16:39:02+00:00
- Updated: 2026-09-07T22:43:57+00:00
- Original publisher: Daily Mail (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16110859/Elon-Musk-Europes-hard-right-figures-hail-AfDs-historic-election-win-German-state-leader-predicts-Chancellor-Merz-fall-Christmas.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
- Topics: Art, Culture, Elections, Europe, Politics, World

## Key points

- AfD won nearly 44% in Saxony-Anhalt, doubling its 2020 result
- Merz's CDU crashed to 17%, its worst defeat in decades
- European leaders, including Tusk and Sánchez, voiced alarm at the result

## Summary

Germany's ruling coalition has been left reeling after the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) won a landslide in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, a result that has rattled political leaders across Europe. Chancellor Friedrich Merz admitted he was "deeply shocked" by the scale of his Christian Democratic Union's (CDU) defeat and said "deep reforms" were now needed, while the outcome fuelled fears elsewhere that the hard right is closing in on power for the first time since the Second World War.

The AfD took nearly 44 per cent of the vote, more than double its 2020 tally, while the CDU collapsed to just 17 per cent, its worst result in decades, though the AfD narrowly missed the outright majority needed to govern alone. The vote drew reaction well beyond Germany: Elon Musk praised the result on X, allies of French President Emmanuel Macron called for moderate parties to unite behind a single candidate before France's 2027 presidential election, Poland's Donald Tusk branded AfD sympathisers "idiots or traitors", and Spain's Pedro Sánchez warned of a growing "extremist threat" worldwide.

## Coverage

- [Daily Mail: Elon Musk and Europe’s hard right figures hail AfD’s ‘historic’ election win in German state as leader predicts Chancellor Merz will fall by Christmas](https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16110859/Elon-Musk-Europes-hard-right-figures-hail-AfDs-historic-election-win-German-state-leader-predicts-Chancellor-Merz-fall-Christmas.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490)
- [BBC World: Germany's far-right AfD says 'democracy demands' parties work with them after state election win](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpd0113082eo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss)
- [The Hill: German far-right party candidate thanks Musk after state election win](https://thehill.com/policy/international/6074993-afd-wins-german-election-elon-musk/)

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.