The US tech billionaire dismissed the narrative of Germany's AfD's being right-wing extremists as "clearly false." The populist party is polling second as Germany prepares for a parliamentary vote in February.

U.S. billionaire Elon Musk backed Germany's Alternative for Germany (AfD) in a guest opinion piece for Germany's Welt am Sonntag newspaper published online on Saturday that prompted the commentary editor to resign in protest.

"The portrayal of the AfD as right-wing extremist is clearly false, considering that Alice Weidel, the party's leader, has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka! Does that sound like Hitler to you? Please!