Trumpism’s shadow looms over German election as far right eyes historic power
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right → loom → power
The leader of the AfD, considered one of the most extreme far-right parties in Europe, has adopted many of President Trump’s campaign tactics.
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leader → consider → tactics
- Like Trump, Tino Chrupalla, has charged, without evidence, that voting by mail is susceptible to corruption.
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voting → charge → corruption
Though some German politicians use Trump tactics, they don’t invoke his name, knowing polls show him to be deeply unpopular.
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him → use → name
Leaders of an extremist, far-right party in Germany have quietly borrowed pages from President Trump’s playbook to cast doubt on the integrity of absentee voting — alleging without evidence that residents of nursing homes have had their ballots manipulated and calling for an end to postal voting.
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ballots → borrow → voting
The attack on mail ballots comes as Germany approaches a potentially historic state election that could shatter one of the taboos of its postwar political order by opening the door to a far-right government.
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that → come → government
Politicians across the ideological spectrum, mindful that polls show Trump to be widely unpopular, don’t invoke his name.
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Trump → show → name
But the specter of the American president nevertheless hangs over the election that could have reverberations across Europe if the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party — tacitly echoing Trump’s attacks on migrants, the media and the integrity of elections — pulls off an unprecedented political shock in postwar Germany.
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party → hang → Germany
In a country where the guilt of its Nazi past is never far from the surface, the AfD has unapologetically campaigned against what it portrays as the shackles of Germany’s history and won over many new supporters, in part by adopting Trump’s hard-line stance on migrants and his drumbeat of attacks on mainstream news outlets.
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it → campaign → outlets
Trumpism and the MAGA movement have undoubtedly been an inspiration and model for many European radical right parties
— Lars Rensmann, political scientist
The AfD leader, Tino Chrupalla, surprised Germans recently with warnings of voter fraud in the Sunday election in Saxony-Anhalt state, telling a national television audience that some senior citizens in nursing homes had had their absentee ballots cast and signed for them without their knowledge.
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ballots → surprise → knowledge
This week, in neighboring Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state, the AfD candidate for governor, Leif-Erik Holm, declared, “Postal voting is more vulnerable to potential attempts of manipulation.”
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voting → neighbor → manipulation
Election officials and organizations representing nursing home caregivers have rejected the allegations and say there is no evidence of voter fraud.
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officials → represent → fraud
The AfD, considered one of the most extreme far-right parties in Europe, has surged so far ahead in opinion polls that it could emerge as the dominant political force in Saxony-Anhalt and potentially lead a German state government for the first time, either with an absolute majority or with a junior coalition partner.
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it → consider → partner
Trump has spent years attacking mail-in voting as vulnerable to fraud, despite scant evidence of widespread abuse.
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Trump → spend → abuse
Trump himself has voted by mail in recent elections.
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Trump → vote → elections
His administration continues to fight court battles to limit voting by mail.
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administration → continue → mail
“Sowing distrust in political institutions is part of the strategy of right-wing populist parties,” said Marcel Lewandowsky, a political scientist at Martin Luther University in Halle, Germany.
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Lewandowsky → sow → Halle
“The ‘rigged election’ lie is a powerful narrative within the MAGA movement,” he added, “and serves as a crucial element that fosters a shared identity” with far-right parties in Europe.
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that → add → Europe
(Such messaging has also been employed by many rightist politicians in Latin America.)
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messaging → employ → America
More Latin Americans identify with the right than at any time over the last two decades, giving President Trump a slate of willing partners as he seeks to expand U.S. power, combat drug cartels and counter growing Chinese influence in the region.
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he → identify → region
An AfD victory in one of Germany’s 16 federal states would in one fell swoop obliterate a central tenet of the postwar order: that the far right must never return to power in the country responsible for the Holocaust and the devastation of Europe in World War II.
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right → obliterate → II
Many fear that taking power there could serve as a springboard for the ostracized party at the national level, where it is leading opinion polls with about 29% support, putting it far ahead of the other four parties with seats in the federal Parliament.
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it → fear → Parliament
“Trumpism and the MAGA movement have undoubtedly been an inspiration and model for many European radical right parties,” said Lars Rensmann, a political scientist at the University of Passau who has studied the far right.
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who → say → right
“In many ways, Trump has been the successful model many European radical right parties try to follow while adopting it to European conditions.”
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parties → try → conditions
The AfD’s ascent has parallels across Europe, from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Brothers of Italy party to Britain’s Nigel Farage, Geert Wilders in the Netherlands and Herbert Kickl in Austria.
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ascent → have → Austria
In France, the far-right Rassemblement National is looking to the 2027 presidential race with its candidate, Marine Le Pen, having perhaps her strongest chance yet of winning after reaching the runoff in 2017 and 2022.
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candidate → look → 2017
Meloni`s relationship with Trump has cooled during her nearly four years in power, due in part to the war in Iran, tariffs and security policies that have strained U.S. relations with Italy and all of Europe.
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that → cool → Europe
Yet there is no pan-European alliance of the far right, in part because these parties champion their own national interests.
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parties → be → interests
“Some components of Trumpism can be shared and exported, such as hostility towards migration and ‘wokeism,’ but it is very clear that national interests that the far-right champion cannot be defended the same way as the American national interests,” said Giovanni Orsina, head of the political science department at LUISS University in Rome.
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Orsina → share → Rome
“If you put your nation first and do so aggressively, you have diverging national interests and so it’s not possible to have an international network of nationalists,” Orsina added.
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Orsina → put → nationalists
They admire not just Trump’s tactics, but the “boldness of his transgressions, dismantling liberal and civil norms by repeating things that were once deemed unacceptable for someone seeking public office,” said Rensmann.
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Rensmann → admire → office
“Trump is unpopular in Germany, even across the political right,” Lewandowsky said.
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Lewandowsky → say → right
“It would be risky for the AfD to embrace him openly, especially because he failed to keep his promise not to start any further wars and large segments of the public feel threatened by the United States under Trump.”
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segments → embrace → Trump
The AfD was created in 2013 as a small anti-euro party before morphing into an anti-migrant force that tapped into voter frustration over immigration and the strains many Germans perceive on housing, jobs and public services.
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Germans → create → housing
Despite being ostracized by mainstream parties and kept out of coalition cooperation, it has survived and thrived as a disruptive force.
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it → ostracize → force
In the last decade Germany has sheltered millions of refugees, mainly from Syria and other troubled countries in the Middle East.
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Germany → shelter → East
It provides housing, medical care and generous financial support to refugees that AfD politicians say serve as a magnet.
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politicians → provide → magnet
Trump once accused former German Chancellor Angela Merkel of “ruining” her country by allowing in so many refugees.
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Trump → accuse → refugees
“I think this could be a watershed moment for Europe,” Orsina said of the upcoming election.
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Orsina → think → election
He said the election in 2022 of Meloni and her Brothers of Italy party, which traces its origins to Italy’s postwar neo-fascist movement, sparked fears across Europe that, in hindsight, may have been exaggerated.
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that → say → hindsight
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