'Where’s my German friends?' Trump hosts far-right German activists who defended Nazis
Carl Gibson,
Carl Gibson,
AlterNet
December 7, 2024
Donald Trump (Photo via Reuters)
President-elect Donald Trump recently hosted several members of the far-right German political party whose top leaders have gone on the record defending Nazi war criminals.
That's according to the Guardian, which reported that a group of AfD (Alternative für Deutschland) members recently traveled to Mar-a-Lago to celebrate Trump's 2024 election victory. The incoming president was seen posing for photos with far-right Bundestag candidate Philipp-Anders Rau, who the Guardian described as a "purported semi-professional, one-time porn actor, self-confessed former cocaine user [and] convicted thief."
The outlet also reported that Trump posed for a photo with Maximilian Krah, an AfD member of European Parliament who went on the record earlier this year defending members of the Nazi party's infamous Waffen-SS unit. Krah's remarks were considered too extreme even for members of France's far-right National Rally, which said it would no longer sit with the AfD in European Parliament.
READ MORE: Trump nominates member of Nazi-linked group to senior-level national security post
In one of the photos, Trump is seen posing with Rau, along with right-wing conspiracy theorist Leonard Jäger, far-right activist Beat Ulrich Zirpel and Fabrice Ambrosini, who had to step away from a political post in 2021 for allegedly flashing the Hitler salute. Zirpel posted a video to Instagram in which Trump is seen greeting the group saying: "Where's my German friends?" The president-elect also shook their hands, and said "thank you, fellas" after they chanted "fight, fight fight!" (Trump's catchphrase after narrowly avoiding an assassination attempt in July.)
The AfD party — which is known for its ardent anti-immigration stance and Islamophobia — is expected to have a strong showing in Germany's upcoming parliamentary elections on February 23. Phillipp-Anders Rau was introduced to Trump by AfD official Jan Wenzel Schmidt, who has been a member of the Bundestag since 2021.
"I was convinced that Trump would become president again, and wanted to make contact with the Republicans early on,” Schmidt told German newspaper the Daily Bild. “Other parties are hectically setting out and we already have a good connection.”
Similar to Trump, the AfD has also opposed aid for Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia. Should the party win a plurality of votes in February, it's likely that Kyiv would lose an additional source of support, as the incoming Trump administration is also likely to cut off U.S. aid for Ukraine.
Click here to read the Guardian's report in full
December 7, 2024
Donald Trump (Photo via Reuters)
President-elect Donald Trump recently hosted several members of the far-right German political party whose top leaders have gone on the record defending Nazi war criminals.
That's according to the Guardian, which reported that a group of AfD (Alternative für Deutschland) members recently traveled to Mar-a-Lago to celebrate Trump's 2024 election victory. The incoming president was seen posing for photos with far-right Bundestag candidate Philipp-Anders Rau, who the Guardian described as a "purported semi-professional, one-time porn actor, self-confessed former cocaine user [and] convicted thief."
The outlet also reported that Trump posed for a photo with Maximilian Krah, an AfD member of European Parliament who went on the record earlier this year defending members of the Nazi party's infamous Waffen-SS unit. Krah's remarks were considered too extreme even for members of France's far-right National Rally, which said it would no longer sit with the AfD in European Parliament.
READ MORE: Trump nominates member of Nazi-linked group to senior-level national security post
In one of the photos, Trump is seen posing with Rau, along with right-wing conspiracy theorist Leonard Jäger, far-right activist Beat Ulrich Zirpel and Fabrice Ambrosini, who had to step away from a political post in 2021 for allegedly flashing the Hitler salute. Zirpel posted a video to Instagram in which Trump is seen greeting the group saying: "Where's my German friends?" The president-elect also shook their hands, and said "thank you, fellas" after they chanted "fight, fight fight!" (Trump's catchphrase after narrowly avoiding an assassination attempt in July.)
The AfD party — which is known for its ardent anti-immigration stance and Islamophobia — is expected to have a strong showing in Germany's upcoming parliamentary elections on February 23. Phillipp-Anders Rau was introduced to Trump by AfD official Jan Wenzel Schmidt, who has been a member of the Bundestag since 2021.
"I was convinced that Trump would become president again, and wanted to make contact with the Republicans early on,” Schmidt told German newspaper the Daily Bild. “Other parties are hectically setting out and we already have a good connection.”
Similar to Trump, the AfD has also opposed aid for Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia. Should the party win a plurality of votes in February, it's likely that Kyiv would lose an additional source of support, as the incoming Trump administration is also likely to cut off U.S. aid for Ukraine.
Click here to read the Guardian's report in full
FASCIST LESBIAN
By AFP
December 7, 2024
German far-right leader Alice Weidel lives in Switzerland with her female partner from Sri Lanka - Copyright AFP CHARLY TRIBALLEAU, Ludovic MARIN
Céline LE PRIOUX
With a snap general election looming in the new year, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) will officially nominate co-leader Alice Weidel as its candidate to be chancellor on Saturday.
Founded in 2013 to oppose Germany’s membership of the European Union, the AfD has seen its support gradually rise in recent years as it has seized on fears about migration and a stumbling economy — especially in former East Germany.
The party is currently polling at around 18 percent in second place behind the conservatives ahead of the election in February, prompting it to name an official chancellor candidate for the first time.
Weidel, 45, was born and educated in West Germany and later lived in China for a year, working at Bank of China, before moving on to Goldman Sachs.
She now lives in Switzerland with her female partner, who is from Sri Lanka, and commutes to Berlin to take up her seat in the Bundestag lower house of parliament.
As someone born in West Germany who is openly gay and has a non-German partner, Weidel is in some ways a surprising choice as the AfD’s candidate for chancellor.
But Weidel has stood out for her ability to avoid being caught up in many of the controversies surrounding her party in recent years.
– Moderate wing –
Weidel, who has described former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher as her political role model, belongs to the more moderate wing of the AfD.
She first joined the party when it was founded in 2013 and unlike many other early members, who quit as it became more overtly xenophobic, she stayed.
Weidel’s faction within the AfD “aspires to an independent existence to the right of the conservatives, with the possibility of forming a coalition”, according to Wolfgang Schroeder, a professor of politics at Kassel University.
But governing together with the centre right is a distant prospect for the AfD since working with the far right remains a major taboo in German politics because of its Nazi history.
As a West German and a gay woman, Weidel has had “some problems connecting with the ideology of her party”, according to political scientist Anna-Sophie Heinze from Trier University.
But she has gained broader support by “slowly giving up her initial criticism” of figures like Bjoern Hoecke, a lodestar for the radical right in the party, Heinze said.
– ‘Anti-system attitude’ –
While Weidel has never hidden her relationship with her partner, with whom she has two children, she has distanced herself from the broader LGBTQ movement.
Ahead of the election campaign, Weidel has adopted a stridently nationalist tone, advocating an exit from the EU, a strict anti-immigration, anti-Islam policy, and a defence of conservative and Christian values.
Compared with other women at the top of far-right parties in Europe, however, Weidel has “less combat experience”, according to Schroeder.
While Marine Le Pen in France and Giorgia Meloni in Italy have made inroads into the mainstream, Weidel remains “the opposition within the opposition” in Germany, he said.
Le Pen’s National Rally distanced itself from the AfD after the German party was caught up in several controversies earlier this year, including accusations of illicit ties to Russia and China.
The leader of the French far right also announced that she was in “complete disagreement” with the AfD’s migration policy after the party was said to be planning mass deportations out of Germany.
While other far-right parties have sought to tack towards the middle or at least soften their image, the AfD “does not want to adapt”, Schroeder said.
“Weidel is still anchored in the anti-system attitude,” he said.
By AFP
December 7, 2024
German far-right leader Alice Weidel lives in Switzerland with her female partner from Sri Lanka - Copyright AFP CHARLY TRIBALLEAU, Ludovic MARIN
Céline LE PRIOUX
With a snap general election looming in the new year, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) will officially nominate co-leader Alice Weidel as its candidate to be chancellor on Saturday.
Founded in 2013 to oppose Germany’s membership of the European Union, the AfD has seen its support gradually rise in recent years as it has seized on fears about migration and a stumbling economy — especially in former East Germany.
The party is currently polling at around 18 percent in second place behind the conservatives ahead of the election in February, prompting it to name an official chancellor candidate for the first time.
Weidel, 45, was born and educated in West Germany and later lived in China for a year, working at Bank of China, before moving on to Goldman Sachs.
She now lives in Switzerland with her female partner, who is from Sri Lanka, and commutes to Berlin to take up her seat in the Bundestag lower house of parliament.
As someone born in West Germany who is openly gay and has a non-German partner, Weidel is in some ways a surprising choice as the AfD’s candidate for chancellor.
But Weidel has stood out for her ability to avoid being caught up in many of the controversies surrounding her party in recent years.
– Moderate wing –
Weidel, who has described former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher as her political role model, belongs to the more moderate wing of the AfD.
She first joined the party when it was founded in 2013 and unlike many other early members, who quit as it became more overtly xenophobic, she stayed.
Weidel’s faction within the AfD “aspires to an independent existence to the right of the conservatives, with the possibility of forming a coalition”, according to Wolfgang Schroeder, a professor of politics at Kassel University.
But governing together with the centre right is a distant prospect for the AfD since working with the far right remains a major taboo in German politics because of its Nazi history.
As a West German and a gay woman, Weidel has had “some problems connecting with the ideology of her party”, according to political scientist Anna-Sophie Heinze from Trier University.
But she has gained broader support by “slowly giving up her initial criticism” of figures like Bjoern Hoecke, a lodestar for the radical right in the party, Heinze said.
– ‘Anti-system attitude’ –
While Weidel has never hidden her relationship with her partner, with whom she has two children, she has distanced herself from the broader LGBTQ movement.
Ahead of the election campaign, Weidel has adopted a stridently nationalist tone, advocating an exit from the EU, a strict anti-immigration, anti-Islam policy, and a defence of conservative and Christian values.
Compared with other women at the top of far-right parties in Europe, however, Weidel has “less combat experience”, according to Schroeder.
While Marine Le Pen in France and Giorgia Meloni in Italy have made inroads into the mainstream, Weidel remains “the opposition within the opposition” in Germany, he said.
Le Pen’s National Rally distanced itself from the AfD after the German party was caught up in several controversies earlier this year, including accusations of illicit ties to Russia and China.
The leader of the French far right also announced that she was in “complete disagreement” with the AfD’s migration policy after the party was said to be planning mass deportations out of Germany.
While other far-right parties have sought to tack towards the middle or at least soften their image, the AfD “does not want to adapt”, Schroeder said.
“Weidel is still anchored in the anti-system attitude,” he said.
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