The second coming: Dark MAGA welcomes Germany’s AfD
It was Politico’s EU Playbook that pointed out the extent to which Donald Trump 2.0 seems bent upon helping Germany’s far right turn the corner.
The nationalist Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has grown rapidly since it was formed in 2013, still has a problem winning friends and influencing voters at home. Enter Mr Trump and his ‘first buddy’, that bro of bros Elon Musk.
The AfD had more people invited to Washington for the Trump 2.0 inauguration than any other German entity. Four of their members planned to attend, including the party’s national co-leader, Tino Chrupalla.
Contrast that with the other Germans invited to Mr Trump’s “coronation”, as some are calling it:
Just one member of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which seems on course to win the Feb 23 election. Germany’s ambassador to the US was invited. But no one from the governing coalition of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s centre-left SPD, nor the Greens.
That’s not particularly surprising considering Mr Musk has enthusiastically endorsed the AfD. And Vice President-elect J D Vance has defended it, accusing the American media of “Nazi-lite” slander.
But it’s Politico’s analysis of the intended effects of Trump 2.0’s support for the AfD that is worth noting. “It seems increasingly likely,” Politico wrote, “that Trump will actively seek to bolster the AfD — not to mention the rest of the European far right”.
In reference to Germany’s likely next chancellor, the CDU’s Friedrich Merz, it added, “That means, no matter how hard Merz tries to make deals with Trump on defense and trade, the US under Trump may well join Russia and Vladmir Putin in helping Europe’s far right at the expense of the mainstream parties that once held far more sway”.
Originally published at https://www.rashmee.com
