Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates calls Elon Musk’s ‘populist stirring’ around the world ‘insane shit’

With Elon Musk supporting German far-right populist political party Alternative for Germany (AfD), Bill Gates, has weighed in on Musk’s ability to “destabilise the political situations in countries” referring to his intimation that “Nigel Farage is not right wing enough” and calling that posture “insane shit”.

In an extended interview with The Times discussing the Microsoft co-founder’s youth, upcoming autobiography, and philanthropy, Musk is brought up after Gates reflects on his recent meeting with President Donald Trump. Elon Musk came under fire for making two one-armed gestures to the crowd at Trump’s inauguration last week that are being widely interpreted as Nazi-style salutes, despite his claims to the contrary.

Elon Musk took to X in December last year to support AfD and showed up to a rally digitally just days after his inauguration appearance, which featured said gesture, to talk to a crowd of 4,500 people. That audience included AfD party co-leader, Alice Weidel, whom he interviewed earlier this month. When Gates says “It’s really insane that he can destabilise the political situations in countries,” this is part of what he is referring to.

He is also referring to Elon Musk’s recent flurry of tweets, accusing UK prime minister Keir Starmer of being involved in a coverup of grooming in the UK. As of right now, there is no evidence of a coverup from Starmer. One of the larger figures known for supporting this talking point is Tommy Robinson, a UK far-right activist whose legal fees could be paid for by Elon Musk.

Elon Musk recently argued for the removal of Nigel Farage as the leader of the UK’s furthest right mainstream party, Reform, and Farage alleges it has to do with his view that “Tommy Robinson is not right for Reform”.

On this current political climate, and Elon Musk’s public presence in non-US elections, Bill Gates told the Times: “You want to promote the right wing but say Nigel Farage is not right wing enough… I mean, this is insane shit. You are for the AfD.”

The AfD was founded just over 11 years ago in 2013 and one of its biggest party positions is its opposition to immigration in Germany, something Musk has been critical of in the US, and something Reform and Robinson have both been critical of in the UK. Both the UK and German far-right are pointedly critical of Muslim immigration and this is something Gates points out in the UK:

“The Labour government came in and is less generous on aid than the Tories who came before it. Our problem is an ageing society, tight budgets and a right wing inward turning, with hatred of all foreigners, and hence refusing aid to them even if they’re not in your own country.”

Elon Musk bought X (then called Twitter) in 2022 for $44 billion, and campaigned for the election of Donald Trump to his millions of followers. The account called @America was then used to “champion secure borders, sensible spending, safe cities, fair justice system, free speech, and self-protection” according to its bio and was founded by Musk. This was an account explicitly in favour of Donald Trump. Donald Trump has since created DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) a task force with Elon Musk at the helm.

“It’s really insane that he can destabilise the political situations in countries,” says Gates. “I think in the US foreigners aren’t allowed to give money; other countries maybe should adopt safeguards to make sure super-rich foreigners aren’t distorting their elections.”

“I did think Brexit was a mistake, but I wasn’t tweeting every day.”

Gates suggests that billionaires like him should focus on singular changes and not advocate at scale for broader political parties, especially abroad. “I thought the rules of the game,” says Gates, “were you picked a finite number of things to spout about that you cared for.

“We can all overreach… If someone is super-smart, and he is, they should think how they can help out. But this is populist stirring.”