r/worldnews • u/DoremusJessup • 17h ago
Billionaire Elon Musk has thrown his support behind far-right leader Marine Le Pen's bid for the French presidency, calling her "France's last hope", and prompting accusations of foreign interference in the 2027 election
https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20260716-elon-musk-s-backing-of-le-pen-presidential-bid-raises-foreign-influence-concerns-in-france5.1k
u/mycatisgrumpy 17h ago
I sure wish he'd fuck off to Mars already.
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u/thatpokemonguy 17h ago
Don't let him be the first person to ruin mars pls
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u/S-r-ex 16h ago
Quite the contrary, SEND THE MOTHERFUCKER! He's going to be miserable for the 8 months it takes ro reach Mars, then he's going to be miserable for however long it takes for a launch window home, and then miserable for another 8 months or so. Fair chance for something to go wrong in all that time too.
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u/spacejester 16h ago
Who said anything about him coming back?
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u/Nynaeve_al_meowra 16h ago
A good crew will responsibly take care of all garbage disposal
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u/Ishipgodzilla 16h ago
yeah, but that's not how you take care of radioactive waste. burried in concrete. It's the only way.
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u/Chartarum 14h ago
I'm sure there is someone at SpaceX that would be willing to make an honest and innocent minor metric/imperial conversion error if properly compensated...
Something something Mars Climate Orbiter...
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u/Fun-Rice-9438 16h ago
Here’s hoping he “optimizes” the design for the spaceship as well as he did the cybertruck
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u/GoldandBlue 15h ago
Everywhere he goes he complains it has been ruined. South Africa, Canada, United States. The common denominator is him.
He will get to Mars and complain about all the immigrants
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u/garrathian92 14h ago
Works for me, just make sure only enough rocket fuel exists for a one way trip when we launch him there.
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u/Jamsedreng22 16h ago
Fuck could you imagine the sheer amount of armchair philosophy and pseudo-profundity we'd have to see on an hourly basis as he tries to sound deep in pondering "humanity" on X while he floats through space.
Good news being I imagine as he gets further from Earth, we see tweets less and less often as they take longer and longer to reach Earth until eventually it just... Stops.
I talked myself into it. I'm with u/S-r-ex
And then we need astronomy to collectively take one for the team and strike any mention of Mars being a thing from all records, everywhere, ever.
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u/metengrinwi 15h ago edited 11h ago
He can have the whole planet (of Mars) to himself as far as I’m concerned
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u/g0ris 14h ago
I couldn't care less about him ruining Mars. If it's between him ruining some empty rock out in space or ruining our rock, I'm picking that other rock any day of the week.
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u/YakiVegas 14h ago
What's there to ruin? It's a dead world. Earth isn't. Get him away from us ASAP before our world is dead too.
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u/DaemonDrayke 17h ago
It’s so funny that these morons dream of a future where they basically act out a literal atlas shrugged and live out their John Galt wet-dreams. But what happens then? They fuck off to Mars, or the moon, or some orbiting satellite. What happens next?
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u/drmojo90210 17h ago
What happens next?
Don't know, don't care. I just want him to leave. What becomes of him after he reaches his destination does not concern me.
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u/DaemonDrayke 16h ago
I’m with you. I suppose the naive humanist in me would hope that question would finally dawn on these fuckers and they would realize that their idea makes about as much sense as peddling sand in the Sahara.
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u/drmojo90210 16h ago
If it makes you feel any better, Musk and many of his fellow tech bros dream of a future where they can escape the burdens of their own mortal flesh and live forever as some kind of cyborg or digital consciousness. You don't need to worry about the naive humanist in you because these dudes literally don't want to be human.
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u/SpaceAdvertiser 16h ago
Unfortunately, he never wanted to go to Mars. All he wants is to have a monopoly on US space money
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u/PatientInitial882 17h ago
Marine Le Pen, fighting The Establishment against foreigners, supported by the world's first trillionaire, a foreigner.
Talk about a kiss of death.
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u/denpo 16h ago
It's A-ok, he's a WHITE foreigner you know.
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u/punkindle 16h ago
nationalism is surprisingly multi-national
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u/PatientInitial882 15h ago
He's a white foreigner who did the Hitlergrusse. Europeans do not forget that.
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u/protostar71 11h ago
She's currently polling at 35%, his support for her has been known for a long time. Either you're giving her supporters memory too much credit, or they're perfectly okay with it. I know what I am betting on.
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u/PatientInitial882 7h ago
Those 35 percent will vote for the racist no matter what. But in France's system, 35 percent is NEVER going to get her through the second round.
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u/ChronosTheSniper 16h ago edited 16h ago
I dunno, looking at polls, Le Pen looks more likely to win a second round runoff than ever. And that's assuming her closest competitor in Philippe faces her in said runoff, which isn't guaranteed. And if Melenchon, the other closest person, is her opponent, she'll win with ease.
I know it's almost a year out, but the polls have been pretty consistent...
At least we can look forward to her being on the receiving end of France's famous protests.
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u/Shaetane 16h ago
bruh the polls have been so wrong before, yeah we can't say it's not likely she wins but man a billion things are gonna happen since then, also she's the only candidate who is also a convicted criminal, I hope that puts a bunch of pressure on her too
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u/ChronosTheSniper 16h ago
As do I. I'd love for my concerns to be totally off-base. But never say never until it's over.
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u/97koral 16h ago
she would shoot the protesters for sure
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u/LongBeakedSnipe 15h ago
The real thing on the line is the nuclear deterrent.
I don't think enough people realise that Le Pen and Farage both winning has effectively handed over the entire European nuclear deterrent into the hands of Trump and Putin.
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u/LordAnubis12 14h ago
Luckily I think Farage is less of an issue now, he's done something to piss off the newspapers who are all guns for him and it might be enough to stop his political career.
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u/TukkerWolf 16h ago
But if Trump and Musk get involved it will be a lot harder for Le Pen to win. Every election those turds try to meddle with goes the other way.
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u/ojoslocos21 17h ago
He's South African, wtf is he talking about "France's last hope"?
How much time does he spend in France annually?
STFU and stay out of politics ya turd
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u/MrHyderion 16h ago
He said the exact same thing about AfD in Germany. He just picks whichever right wing party is the most successful in any country and inserts the name.
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u/Karabungulus 16h ago
And Reform in the UK. I wish he'd stick his beak out
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u/Beeswing- 16h ago
Hasn't he jumped to Restore now? They're even further right than Reform it seems.
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u/MrHyderion 15h ago edited 12h ago
With this naming scheme I cannot wait for the founding of an even farther right party called Rebuild
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u/Urska08 15h ago
There's a few other splinter ones too, UKIP (which is now fully, openly neo-Nazi), Advance, and I think there may be another one called Reclaim now? I have to think they're deliberately trying to confuse voters with similar-sounding names, even though if they all field candidates in the same wards they risk splitting their own votes. Part of me would not be surprised if they agreed, off the record, not to get in each others' way. The other part of me thinks they are so ego-blinded and in it for the grift that they'll stab each other in the back any chance they get, even to their own detriment.
Throw them all in the Bin(face).
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u/Pigeon_Breeze 11h ago
Part of me would not be surprised if they agreed, off the record, not to get in each others' way. The other part of me thinks they are so ego-blinded and in it for the grift that they'll stab each other in the back any chance they get, even to their own detriment.
You've covered all your bases with that one. Yes, they're either allies or not allies.
Realistically, only Restore Britain and Reform UK are at all likely to appear on ballot papers, let alone affect the outcome. The rest of the parties you've listed have either formally dissolved, don't have councillors, or in the case of Reclaim exist more as a pressure group.
When the Clacton by-election was called, the media only consulted six parties on whether they were fielding a candidate: The Greens, Labour, Lib Dems, Tories, Reform and Restore. Any other party is quite literally less important than Count Binface.
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u/raspymorten 14h ago
All I know about Restore is that dude a week or so ago that complained that the UK banned guns because of "one murder."
... So ya know. Clearly a great bunch.
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u/Beeswing- 14h ago
Trying to minimise that tragic massacre to score political points was abhorrent.
Why on earth are they trying to start US style arguments about gun control in the UK anyway. It's definitely not an issue anyone else is talking about. I think most right minded people are happy to keep guns under control.
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u/raspymorten 14h ago
Why on earth are they trying to start US style arguments about gun control in the UK anyway.
1: Right wing psycho sentiment has coalesced into one big ball of general points due to the internet.
2: There's a lotta groups out there willing to shell out a lot of money to help get their ideas passed worldwide.
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u/Major_Region_2918 15h ago
Reform wernt hard right enough for him. Hes moved to Restore who have a stated policy of "repatriating" British citizens that dont have the "correct" skin tone, presumably to whereever they think their ancestors came from x generations ago.
Its beyond ridiculous but its actually useful for the UK as it splits the far right vote a bit.
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u/Sick_and_destroyed 16h ago
His biggest scheme is to destroy European Union because it imposes too much regulations on his businesses
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u/Beeswing- 15h ago
Yes, a united Europe is a threat to him and his pals. Divide and conquer.
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u/Bill_Brasky_SOB 13h ago
You mean the guy who turned off Starlink connections for Ukrainian soldiers? He hates the EU too?!?!
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u/vile_things 7h ago
Not a threat, more like an affront. People like him see regulations as a personal insult, because it puts restrictions on what they can do. He wants that juicy EU market but keeps running afoul of EU laws and it hurts his fragile ego.
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u/TheOGRedline 16h ago
I want him to get fully involved, and break some laws, and face some consequences from a country that actually punishes rich people. Not sure if France is up to it, but I hope so.
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u/Sir_Tea_Of_Bags 15h ago
“France’s last hope” = “my personal last hope when things come up that France can sue my blubbery ass for”
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u/fe-and-wine 15h ago
He's been pulling this shit in a bunch of elections ever since his success getting involved in the 2024 US one.
Every single time it's this dire "[right wing nutjob] is [country]'s LAST HOPE, they MUST win or your country will NOT SURVIVE!"
...then they lose, and the next election rolls around, and it's "...actually THIS is [country]'s LAST HOPE..."
It's almost like his whole "this person must win or society will crumble" shtick is a load of bullshit and he just wants the person friendlier to his businesses to obtain power and cut him some favorable deals.
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u/Josh6889 14h ago
wtf is he talking about "France's last hope"?
Let's just call it what it is. It's a dog whistle for white nationalism. The biggest current cancer effecting the world.
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u/MoneyBeeeee 12h ago
wtf is he talking about "France's last hope"?
Allow me to explain; he's a nazi.
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u/TimTkt 17h ago
Having the support of Putin and Musk, being convicted of money fraud, and there are still 20-30% of French electors ready to vote for this 🤦♂️
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u/rif011412 15h ago
There is a vein of tribalism that runs cold and deep in our species. It doesnt seem to matter what the facts or figures say, tribal thinkers (conservatives) will err with the tribe every time. The saddest part is, their fear of the other, requires them to fear the people exactly like themselves first and foremost. Its not the good humble christian, or meek muslim, or peaceful buddhist, or polite atheist they fear. Its the conservative extremist muslim/christian/godless heathen that behaves exactly like they do that gives them the “proof” they need to enact supremacy and hate across time and cultures.
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u/Particular_Wear_6960 13h ago
Carl Schmidt is about as close to a fascist philosopher we got wrote a whole lot about the fascist ideology. It requires an enemy, whether perceived or real, internal or external that they must fight against. It's all a means to gain power and that's all that matters. People, when feeling threatened, will naturally rally around them and it's up to the fascist to always make sure they have someone to be afraid of.
There's a whole lot to it, I didn't read the whole book but yeah if you check out his works, it's a good idea as to what makes them tick, though obviously some of this stuff is common knowledge these days, he goes super in depth about it and criticizes the liberal who tries to appease the far left and far right when they should be fighting as violence often is the only thing that the far ends respond to.
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u/YungChumba 12h ago edited 12h ago
I recently started a career in the trades so just about everyone I work with is conservative. It's been eye opening to see them around eachother with their guard down.
Every single one of them complains incessently about having to do their jobs, takes shortcuts, and intentionally underperforms so company standards are kept low. A large number of them also lie to and cheat on their spouses, and are engaged in illegal activities such as soliciting prostitutes, drunk driving, and using drugs.
Honestly, their beliefs make a lot more sense to me now. Conservatives are easy to convince that any particular group of people is lazy/entitled, dishonest, violent, or degenerate - because conservatives are all of those things.
It's not hard to imagine someone else being a piece of shit if you know you'd do the exact same thing if given the opportunity. Thus, in their minds, of course we shouldn't give those people any sort of opportunity. Surely they'll just abuse it, like any good conservative would.
They live in constant fear that others will act as they do.
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u/JeeWeeYume 17h ago
Marine LePen was convicted of embezzling more than 2 million euros of European public funds last year. She was convicted again during her appeal last week. She still have a last recourse which is unlikely to succeed, so she might end the campaign wearing an ankle monitor.
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u/Vectorman1989 11h ago
Is she even allowed to run with the criminal conviction?
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u/hakenwithbacon 10h ago
It happened in the US, why can't it happen in France?
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u/Prestigious_Window_8 9h ago
Because they have a different constitution?
Candidates can be barred if a judge explicitly hands down a peine d'inéligibilité. But this is not an automatic thing for all offenders, it's discretionary.
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u/PuzzleheadedPen4675 17h ago
It's like he wants world-wide apartheid.
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u/fullchub 17h ago edited 17h ago
He wants central governments to be as corrupt and inefficient as possible, so that they'll lose public trust and create a power vacuum that a corporate oligarchy can fill. He and others in his circle aren't even shy about admitting to this fact.
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u/IRSunny 16h ago
Or, and bear with me here, he's a really racist motherfucker who supports other racist motherfuckers.
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u/ExpansivePoint 16h ago
Def can be both, we're talking about the guy that wrapped his toddler around his head as a security measure.
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u/DDNB 15h ago
That's a means to an end. He would benefit immensely from a weaker and more fractured europe. Each separate eu country is much easier to influence than all of us together.
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u/Romano16 16h ago
He does. He is a white supremacist who grew up in apartheid South Africa. He is a right winger who has benefitted from generational wealth that was accumulated by the work of people he feels is beneath them.
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u/Undernown 14h ago
This, just look up his father and what he said about Musk too. Just think of the thoughts imprinted on Musk since childhood and you won't be surprised.
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u/emperorMorlock 17h ago
It is my impression that the French typically love it when rich people and Americans tell them what to do
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u/nonlawyer 16h ago
have they considered sending JD Vance out there in support? Worked out great for Orban.
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u/Donovanormous_s 16h ago
"Why don't the Americans just..."
Batter up! The tech fascist billionaires are coming for Europe next.
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u/jktcat 17h ago
Drag him to court and force him to answer for it. Punish him if there's wrong doing found...
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u/ripChazmo 17h ago
I'm so sick and fucking tired of our reality. Le Pen is a piece of shit, and would be awful for France, and the world. I don't know why we have to keep going through this over and over again.
The world tried Nazis. It didn't end well. We don't need to do it again.
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u/HobbesNJ 17h ago
Because the masses keep falling for populism. It seems to be an inherent flaw in the human psyche.
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u/Beeswing- 15h ago
Nah, this time it's all because of social media. I'm convinced of this. The algorithm is being manipulated. I don't think social media, as we have it now, is compatible with democracy. We need transparency and accountability in social media, just like we used to have in written media.
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u/Hawgdestroyerxtreme 14h ago
Nah, this time it's all because of social media. I'm convinced of this. The algorithm is being manipulated.
It's both.
They had to wait for things to get bad to use populism to take control and destroy the world. See: Germany after WW1.
Now they can just convince everyone it's bad using social media. It's working spectacularly. Surely you can see that Fox News and their social media presence is designed to create fear, uncertainty and doubt in less than average citizen, right? This is what breeds populism.
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u/Beeswing- 14h ago
I'd go further. Not just waiting for things to get bad, but actively making things bad. Pushing for Brexit to make people poorer, driving up immigration then complaining about immigration. You're right, this is all by design.
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u/LOSS35 15h ago
Classify social media platforms as publishers. This will make them liable for damages caused by false information they publish, just like traditional media, forcing them to self-police. Problem solved.
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u/Ok-Ambition-771 16h ago
LePen is the exact same as Putin, that's why she openly admitted that Putin financed her campaign.
See how Russia is doing under that fucking gnome.
At least for Russia it'll be a very very cold winter this year. ( And I got my popcorn ready in my cozy warm home )
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u/weirdkidomg 17h ago
https://www.irishstar.com/news/us-news/elon-musk-backs-trump-last-34895264.amp
Doesn’t he think of anything new or does he just repeat himself constantly? He said the same thing about Trump March 19, 2025.
In case he is unaware, saying that and thinking that is purely an opinion.
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u/vicelordjohn 16h ago
Not only is he aware but it's purposeful. The billionaires have decided to take over the world and creating unstable governments to destroy things. They will swoop in and "fix" everything later and that's when they'll officially own the world.
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u/Psychobob2213 17h ago
SHOCKER: South African Nazi endorses French Nazi Politician. Click to read more details.
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u/thetechguyv 17h ago
He believes reality is a video game and he is one of a handful of players. He's just going to keep doing more and more heinous shit.
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u/patricksaurus 16h ago
Elon has become a perfectly accurate litmus test for spotting bigoted or otherwise unfit politicians.
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u/Floofaramamama 12h ago
They are a disease. Europe, you have claimed to be more intelligent than Americans ever since I can remember. Please put your money where your mouth is and stop this before it gets any further.
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u/Slow-Conflict-3959 17h ago
Europe is the last bastion of liberal democracy and is a threat to global oligarchic rule. Elon must divide and destroy the European Union.
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u/Friendly-Fuel8893 17h ago
Good, his Mierdas touch will screw over Le Pen. Just like Vance's endorsement screwed over Orban.
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u/TestTheTrilby 17h ago
This man lost $300bn in less than a month
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u/Xsiah 17h ago
And crucially, it didn't even make a difference in his life at all
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u/RoboTronPrime 17h ago
I'm wondering if the SpaceX malaise will infect his Tesla shares. That company is valued way, was higher than it should be based on fundamentals and comparable car companies
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u/gregsting 16h ago
This woman was sentenced to 3 years of jail and 45 months of ineligibility. 10 years ago she said that anyone who illegally used his political position should be banned from politics for life.
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u/mylord420 15h ago
He didnt lose it. Its all theoretical until you cash out. SpaceX insane valuation was a dump onto the market, a liquidity event. Whats important is how much of that money he gets out of the company. The stock was never meant to stay high. We can shit on him all we want but this process was meant to enrich him and it did.
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u/islandsimian 17h ago
And he's still the richest man in the world - such a disgusting amount of wealth
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u/TailungFu 16h ago
How the fuck are people supporting a politican who's backed by ELON musk?!
shouldn't it be fucking easy to pick good politicans, just choose the one not backed by a trillionaire?! mfkers
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u/schacks 16h ago
His insane level of megalomania is a constant surprise. He got what he wanted with Trump! Can’t he just be content with ruling America?!?
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u/Dodecahedrus 17h ago
a nd prompting accusations of foreign interference in the 2027 election
At least nice of him to admit it.
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u/John0_0Smith 17h ago
Actually, it's a good thing that he openly admitted to funding Le Pen and expressed his hope of receiving favors in the future. You know how it is French people are more than happy to have a South African interfere in their domestic politics, and his endorsement will be crucial in helping Le Pen lose the election.
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u/Throwaway1986nerd 16h ago
Of course it's foreign interference from a south African neo nazi ketamine addicted pedophile
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u/jhill515 17h ago
Someone should look into the South African who're interfering with elections worldwide.
#DontEatWithFacists
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u/psioniclizard 16h ago
Hello France from your old buddies England. We will also back Le Pen if it means you lot will vote against her as a fuck you to us.
Now if you could do that same with Farage.
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u/digitalpencil 16h ago
Just fuck off to Mars already. You can create your all-white utopia there and leave the rest of us alone.
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u/awesomedan24 15h ago edited 15h ago
He wants less regulatory constraints for his businesses in the EU
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u/Tribaltech777 15h ago
I wish he’d go get fucked to mars and take the rotting corpse trump with him already. Anyone still buying a brand new Tesla vehicle supports this man and his not see-ism , no other way to look at it. Vile filth from South Africa.
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u/DoremusJessup 17h ago
Musk is just trying to prove oligarchs run the world.