Scholz dismisses Musk's assertion that only a far-right party can 'save' Germany

BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday dismissed an assertion by Elon Musk that only a far-right party can “save Germany,” but said that freedom of opinion "also goes for multibillionaires.”

Germany is expected to vote in an early election on Feb. 23 after Scholz's three-party governing coalition collapsed last month in a dispute over how to revitalize the country's stagnant economy.

Scholz is hoping to win a second term, but polls have shown the main opposition center-right Union bloc in the lead and the chancellor's center-left Social Democrats trailing well behind.

The far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is polling strongly, but its candidate for the top job, Alice Weidel, has no realistic chance of becoming chancellor, because other parties refuse to work with it.