Elon Musk ramps up Romanian election row

21/2/2025 6:27

Elon Musk labelled the chief judge of Romania's top court a

"tyrant" on Thursday in the latest broadside aimed at Bucharest

by a member of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration

after the cancellation of a 2024 presidential election.



Romania's Constitutional Court voided the election in

December before a second round of voting, after declassified

security documents showed suspicions of Russian interference in

favour of far-right NATO-critic Calin Georgescu, accusations

denied by Moscow.



On Wednesday, Constitutional Court chief judge Marian Enache

denounced what he said were threats made by Georgescu, who has

warned top court judges that should he be elected, they will be

tried for high treason.



In Munich last week, U.S. Vice President JD Vance questioned

the cancellation of Romania's election, using it as an example

of what he said was undemocratic censorship of free speech and

political opponents by European governments.



Musk, who is spearheading the Trump administration's new

Department of Government Efficiency, on Thursday shared a post

on his X social media platform which said that Enache had

rejected U.S. pressure over whether Georgescu should be allowed

to run in the repeat election in May.



"This guy is a tyrant, not a judge," Musk wrote.



The top court was not immediately available to comment.



Musk has previously reposted Georgescu comments as well as

podcasts by controversial right-wing hosts such as Alex Jones

that featured him.



Georgescu, who has praised Romania's 1930s fascist leaders

and expressed admiration for both the U.S. and Russian

presidents, remains voters' top choice in opinion polls.



Musk has faced accusations of meddling in European politics

after he criticised leaders including Britain's Keir Starmer

while openly supporting Germany's far-right AfD in a German

parliamentary election scheduled for Sunday.