In the past, the EU has not hesitated to try to apply European law to tech companies. Over the past decade, for example, Google has faced three fines totaling more than $8 billion for breaking antitrust law (though one of these fines was overturned by the EU’s General Court in 2024).

Musk's comments came two days before International Holocaust Remembrance Day and right after he was criticized for making what many viewers interpreted as a Nazi salute during an inauguration speech.

Musk's support for AfD has helped what was once a fringe political party enter the mainstream, lifting it up in front of a global audience.