As we wrote earlier, it was beginning to look like AfD, the political party in the German elections taking place on Sunday backed by Elon Musk, was set to shock progressive elites in Europe by picking up a great deal of voter support:
Germans are heading to the polls Sunday to elect members of the Bundestag, the country’s federal parliament, with the election garnering extra attention due to Elon Musk’s support of the right-leaning, populist AfD (Alternative für Deutschland) party. The election was originally slated to take place in September of this year, but was moved up due to the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition government back in November.
As my colleague Teri Christoph wrote, a bit of clarity is needed about who and what AfD is–since “…the same people who oppose AfD are the same people who despise Donald Trump and Argentina’s Javier Milei”:
AfD’s mission statement is this: “We are liberals and conservatives. We are free citizens of our country. We are convinced democrats.” Here is some of what the party, often described by the media as “far right,” stands for:
- Strong opposition to illegal immigration and asylum policies.
- Emphasis on preserving German cultural identity.
- Reforming or leaving the EU altogether (“Dexit” has been debated within the party).
- Opposition to gre