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Tag: Alice Weidel

Alice Weidel
August 12, 2025
News

Populist AfD Tops Latest German Polls.

PULSE POINTS

❓WHAT HAPPENED: Germany’s populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is now the most popular political force in the country, according to a new poll.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Alternative for Germany (AfD), Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, AfD leader Alice Weidel.

📍WHEN & WHERE: The poll was released on August 12.

💬KEY QUOTE: “The citizens have finally had enough of a Union that not only seamlessly continues the policies of the [former government] but even expands them. Mr. Merz has become intolerable after just 100 days—time for an AfD government!” – Alice Weidel.

🎯IMPACT: The AfD’s rise in popularity comes amid other European populist parties rising in the polls, with voters increasingly disillusioned with establishment political parties and their globalist platforms.

IN FULL

A new poll released Tuesday has revealed a dramatic shift in Germany’s political landscape, showing the populist, anti-mass migration Alternative for Germany (AfD) as the most popular party in the country. According to a survey conducted by the Forsa Institute for Social Research and Statistical Analysis, 26 percent of German voters would support the AfD if a federal election were held now.

This result places the AfD ahead of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s notionally center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), formerly led by Angela Merkel, and its sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), now on 24 percent support.

The figures are expected to heighten concerns among establishment leaders across Europe. In neighboring France, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally is already leading comfortably, and right-wing populist parties have recently made significant electoral gains across the continent, from Poland and Romania to Portugal and the Netherlands.

In the United Kingdom, Nigel Farage’s Reform Party also outpaces establishment parties in current polls, reflecting widespread dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s leftist Labour Party government.

Though some polls still show Germany’s conservative Christian Democrats narrowly ahead of the AfD in a compilation of multiple surveys, the populist party has seen a steady rise since February’s federal election, when it captured nearly 21 percent of the vote in its strongest showing to date. The AfD currently holds the position of the largest opposition party in the Bundestag (federal legislature).

Under the leadership of Alice Weidel, a former economist, the party has adopted a staunchly anti-mass migration platform. Weidel commented on the polling, saying, “The citizens have finally had enough of a Union that not only seamlessly continues the policies of the [former government] but even expands them. Mr. Merz has become intolerable after just 100 days—time for an AfD government!”

Some establishment politicians believe the AfD should be outlawed and banned as the party becomes more popular with voters.

Image by Olaf Kosinsky.

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Alice Weidel
February 14, 2025
Jack Montgomery
Politics
World

Vance Meets German Populist Leader in Munich, Snubs Far-Left Chancellor.

Vice President J.D. Vance met with Alice Weidel, leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), on Friday in Munich, Germany, according to a source familiar with the vice president’s schedule. Vance, in town for the Munich Security Conference, had earlier criticized the German establishment for attempting to shut out the AfD—the second-most popular party in a country where coalition governments are often necessary—as well as European governments in general, particularly for their mishandling of immigration and hostility to free speech.

Earlier this week, Vance also met with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier—whose post is largely ceremonial—and Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Paris, France. However, reports yesterday indicated the Vice President would not meet Scholz in Germany, with a former U.S. official suggesting, “We don’t need to see him, he won’t be Chancellor long.”

Scholz’s Social Democrats are expected to lose badly in Germany’s upcoming federal elections, polling significantly below the AfD. However, the notionally conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), formerly led by Angela Merkel, is expected to place first, though the CDU is more likely to attempt to form a coalition with the Social Democrats and other leftist parties than with Weidel’s populists.

Elon Musk, who leads President Donald J. Trump’s high-profile Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has been vocally supporting Weidel and the AfD ahead of the German elections, saying they are the only party that can save Germany.

Defending Musk’s right to express his views, Vice President Vance has said, “If American democracy can survive 10 years of Greta Thunberg’s scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk.”

Image by Olaf Kosinsky.

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Vice President J.D. Vance met with Alice Weidel, leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), on Friday in Munich, Germany, according to a source familiar with the vice president's schedule. Vance, in town for the Munich Security Conference, had earlier criticized the German establishment for attempting to shut out the AfD—the second-most popular party in a country where coalition governments are often necessary—as well as European governments in general, particularly for their mishandling of immigration and hostility to free speech. show more
Alice Weidel
January 9, 2025
Jack Montgomery
TECH
World

Musk Interviews German Populist Leader.

Tech mogul Elon Musk hosted a live-streamed conversation with Alice Weidel, the co-leader and chancellor candidate of Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, on his X platform on Thursday, showcasing the populist, anti-mass migration party’s message to a vast audience just before crucial national elections. This event, which attracted around 200,000 live viewers, underscores Musk’s commitment to using his platform to champion populist parties, emphatically endorsing the AfD by saying it is the only party that can “save Germany.”

Musk and Weidel aligned on several key issues: they both criticized Germany’s high taxation, excessive immigration, and the misguided decision to phase out nuclear energy, especially in light of the war in Ukraine cutting off Germany’s supply of Russian gas. Musk, partly of German descent, has significant business interests in Germany and agreed with Weidel that the country’s bureaucracy and regulations stifle business.

The AfD is being monitored by Germany’s domestic intelligence for alleged extremism, and the country’s left and notionally center-right parties are combining against it. Weidel, who used Musk’s platform to stress that the AfD is a libertarian and conservative party, views this surveillance as an unjust political smear campaign aimed at suppressing the AfD’s growing popularity.

Despite the accusations of extremism, Weidel told Musk the AfD is actually the “only protector of the Jewish people” in Germany, with the Islamic immigration enabled by the other parties leaving German Jews increasingly under threat. Additionally, she praised Musk’s commitment to free speech, noting that Adolf Hitler curtailed such freedoms soon after gaining power. She and Musk also negatively emphasized the socialist policies of Hitler’s Nazi party, formally the National Socialist German Workers’ Party.

Musk and Weidel alluded to efforts by the European Union (EU) to enforce censorship on X under its Digital Services Act (DSA). The European Commission is also probing whether X policies on, for instance, blue ‘verified’ checkmarks, alleging they may not align with European transparency and accountability standards.

The AfD is polling in second place ahead of federal elections set for February 23, 2025, behind only the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), formerly led by Angela Merkel.

Image by Olaf Kosinsky.

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Tech mogul Elon Musk hosted a live-streamed conversation with Alice Weidel, the co-leader and chancellor candidate of Germany's Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, on his X platform on Thursday, showcasing the populist, anti-mass migration party's message to a vast audience just before crucial national elections. This event, which attracted around 200,000 live viewers, underscores Musk's commitment to using his platform to champion populist parties, emphatically endorsing the AfD by saying it is the only party that can "save Germany." show more
December 20, 2024
Jack Montgomery
World

Musk Backs German Populists: ‘Only the AfD Can Save Germany.’

Tech mogul Elon Musk believes “Only the AfD can save Germany,” referring to the populist, anti-mass migration Alternative for Germany party. The Donald Trump and Nigel Farage ally offered this endorsement in response to a video posted by Naomi Seibt, a Geman conservative commentator previously dubbed “the anti-Greta Thunberg.”

“Dear Elon, thank you so much for your note,” said AfD co-chairwoman Alice Weidel in a video response to the statement by Musk, who is of partly German descent.

“The Alternative for Germany, the AfD, is indeed the one and only alternative for our country; our last option, if you ask me,” she continued, wishing Musk, President-elect Donald J. Trump, and the American people “a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”

Currently, the AfD is polling well ahead of Germany’s ruling Social Democrats, their junior coalition partners, the Greens, and their former coalition partners, the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP). However, the AfD is behind the notionally center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), formerly led by Angela Merkel. Additionally, all of Germany’s establishment and far-left parties enforce a so-called cordon sanitaire against the AfD, barring any cooperation with the populist party.

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Tech mogul Elon Musk believes "Only the AfD can save Germany," referring to the populist, anti-mass migration Alternative for Germany party. The Donald Trump and Nigel Farage ally offered this endorsement in response to a video posted by Naomi Seibt, a Geman conservative commentator previously dubbed "the anti-Greta Thunberg." show more
January 22, 2024
Jack Montgomery
World

German Populist Leader Wants Brexit-Style Referendum on Leaving EU.

Alice Weidel, co-chairwoman of the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, believes there should be a referendum on ‘Dexit’ — a Deutsch (German) exit from the European Union — if the bloc cannot be reformed.

“If a reform isn’t possible, if we fail to rebuild the sovereignty of the EU member-states, we should let the people decide, just as Britain did,” said Weidel, whose party is polling significantly above the three globalist parties that form Germany’s coalition government, in an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday.

“And we could have a referendum on ‘Dexit’ – a German exit from the EU,” adding that the British referendum provided “a model for Germany, that one can make a sovereign decision like that.”

In alliance with France, Germany is widely seen as the dominant force in the European Union. Compared to smaller countries like Greece and conservative countries like Hungary and, under its previous government, Poland, Germany has been able to break EU rules with impunity.

Only around 10 percent of Germans currently support leaving the European Union. Even among AfD voters, it is presently a minority position, with 45 percent support.

Nevertheless, Weidel’s anti-mass migration, anti-net zero party looks poised to make significant gains in regional elections and elections to the European Parliament in 2024, topping polls in the areas that used to comprise East Germany.

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Alice Weidel, co-chairwoman of the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, believes there should be a referendum on ‘Dexit’ — a Deutsch (German) exit from the European Union — if the bloc cannot be reformed. show more

Editor’s Notes

Behind-the-scenes political intrigue exclusively for Pulse+ subscribers.

RAHEEM J. KASSAM Editor-in-Chief
You have to understand that this was broadly the sentiment in Britain circa 2008/9, with a serious but tiny Eurosceptic movement
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You have to understand that this was broadly the sentiment in Britain circa 2008/9, with a serious but tiny Eurosceptic movement show more
for exclusive members-only insights