Will Emmanuel Macron bring Elon Musk to his senses? At the traditional ambassadors' gathering at the Elysée reception hall on Monday, January 6, Macron took aim at the billionaire for the first time, although without naming him. As Musk lent his support to several far-right leaders and political groups, Macron accused him of supporting a "new international reactionary movement," a phrase borrowed from the geopolitical magazine Le Grand Continent (November 2023).

He was referring to Musk's violent attacks on X against the British Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whom he accuses of covering up a pedophile ring and tells several times a day that he should resign; as well as to the attempt to destabilize Germany's social-democrat chancellor, Olaf Scholz, currently facing delicate parliamentary elections. Musk, who has 200 million followers on his social media, openly supports Germany's far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, going so far as to host a discussion on X with its leader, Alice Weidel, on Thursday, January 9.

The founder of Tesla and SpaceX was quick to throw the ball back at the French president. Posting the video of Emmanuel Macron's January 6 speech on his X account, Musk nevertheless avoided a direct confrontation: "Oh, like that time [Keir] Starmer called Donald Trump a racist and said the British government should do everything to stop him?" he quipped. "On Musk's scale, that's mild," said someone close to Macron.

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