Other parties vying to win the upcoming election also criticized the tech billionaire after he doubled down on his support for the far-right AfD party in a weekend op-ed.

BERLIN (AP) — The German government on Monday sought to downplay efforts by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk to get involved in the country’s general election campaign by again endorsing the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party.

In his opinion piece, Musk called the AfD "the last spark of hope" for Germany and argued in favor of the party's positions on energy, economic recovery and migration, saying they reflect "the principles that made Tesla and SpaceX successful," according to a Euronews translation.