Documents show German party’s scramble to request support after president’s 2016 election win and co-leader’s pursuit of Steve Bannon
A data leak from Germany’s far-right German Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has revealed the extent of efforts by the party to court Donald Trump and other leading figures in the Maga movement, stretching back more than a decade.
The trove reveals the pains the AfD took in wooing the president, whom they saw from the beginning as a potential ally, with senior party officials agonising over the wording of an obsequious congratulatory telegram when he was elected in 2016, which included the wish that his “hopes as a person be fulfilled”.
The AfD became a home for anti-immigration voters after 1.2 million refugees arrived in Germany in 2015 and 2016. It entered the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, in 2017 with 12.6% of the vote, came second in the February 2025 federal election with 20.8%, and now leads national polls at about 30%. In September it won 43.8% of the vote in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, and it is now trying to form Germany’s first far-right state government since the second world war.
It’s pretty arrogant from a European perspective to look down on the US and think this would never happen to us. Europe is not nearly as independent as we wished and usually the US is a pretty good predictor for us.
I always say that in stupidity, the US is a trendsetter. Any dumb thing the Americans do, the rest of the world does a few years later. And following a fool after the consequences are clear makes for a greater fool in my eyes.
I mean, 'merica voted for him twice
I would have thought that, if anyone would have learned to stay away from far right, it would be Germans and Jews… and we know Israel didn’t so
The Nazis never left Germany, they just laid low for a bit after WW2
A few Psyhentist were imported by the “winners.”
Yeah, better not look up who was working at NASA during the space race
Also, the Germans arguably “perfected” modern fascism. It would be no surprise if they backslid at some point.
The entire world is run by Neofascists at this point. It is just degrees now like how fascist are you or perhaps how many fascist policies does your country have.