Hard-right commentators, politicians and activists in Europe have uncovered a secret to expanding their influence: engaging with Elon Musk.

Take the German politician from a party whose own domestic intelligence agency has designated as extremist. Her daily audience on X surged from 230,000 to 2.2 million on days Musk interacted with her posts. She went on to lead her party to its best-ever electoral showing.

Or the anti-immigration activist in Britain, who was banned from Twitter and sentenced to 18 months in prison for contempt of court. Since Musk let him back on the platform in late 2023, he’s mentioned, reposted or replied to the billionaire more than 120 times on X — and gained nearly a million followers.

Musk’s influence on the platform he bought for $44 billion has made him a kingmaker at home and abroad. Among those he has chosen to cultivate are hard-right politicians and insurgent influencers across Europe, according to an Associated Press analysis of public data. His dominance, which has real-world financial and political impacts, is fueling concerns in Europe about foreign meddling -- not from Russia or China this time, but from the United States.