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Thursday, September 11, 2025

Tag: Populists
May 2, 2025
Jack Montgomery
News
Politics

Trump Admin Condemns Germany After Populist Opposition Designated as Extremist Org: ‘Tyranny in Disguise.’

PULSE POINTS:

❓What Happened: Germany’s domestic intelligence service classified the populist political party Alternative for Germany (AfD), which placed second in the recent federal elections, as an extremist organization. The Trump administration has condemned the move as tyrannical.

👥 Who’s Involved: “Germany just gave its spy agency new powers to surveil the opposition. That’s not democracy—it’s tyranny in disguise.” — Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

📍 Where & When: Germany and the U.S., May 2.

💬 Key Quote: “This decision by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution is complete nonsense in terms of substance, has nothing to do with law and justice, and is purely political in the fight between the cartel parties against the AfD.” — Stephan Brandner for the AfD.

⚠️ Impact: The decision could intensify discussions on potentially banning the AfD, in Germany, affecting its political activities through increased surveillance, and sour relations with the U.S.

IN FULL:

Germany’s domestic intelligence service has designated the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party an extremist organization. Authorities announced the designation on May 2, which permits the use of enhanced spying to monitor the party and its leaders. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany’s domestic spy agency, compiled a 1,100-page report to justify this classification, claiming that the AfD promotes an ethnocentric view of the population that discriminates against certain groups, particularly those with immigrant backgrounds. This perspective, according to Nancy Faeser, Germany’s leftist interior minister, conflicts with a constitutional decree.

On behalf of the Trump administration in the U.S., Secretary of State Marco Rubio has condemned the move as tyrannical, saying, “Germany just gave its spy agency new powers to surveil the opposition. That’s not democracy—it’s tyranny in disguise.”

“What is truly extremist is not the popular AfD—which took second in the recent election—but rather the establishment’s deadly open border immigration policies that the AfD opposes,” he added, warning, “Germany should reverse course.”

AfD leaders have criticized the extremist designation as a politically motivated attack. Notably, the classification not only impacts the public image of AfD, which is currently leading in some polls, but, as Rubio warns, it also allows for deeper surveillance and scrutiny of its members. This could potentially culminate in legislative actions aimed at limiting or banning the party’s political activities altogether.

German lawmakers have already tried to introduce motions to ban the AfD in the German legislature. However, a full ban requires an order from the country’s constitutional court.

Chris Tomlinson contributed to this report.

Image by Olaf Kosinsky.

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May 2, 2025
Jack Montgomery
News
UK

Reform Party, Led by Trump Ally Farage, Beats Governing Labour Party in Special Election.

PULSE POINTS:

❓What Happened: Sarah Pochin, representing Nigel Farage’s Reform Party, has won a by-election (special election) in the Runcorn and Helsby constituency (electoral district), ousting the governing Labour Party by six votes.

👥 Who’s Involved: Sarah Pochin of Reform UK, Karen Shore of Labour, Nigel Farage.

📍 Where & When: Runcorn and Helsby, northwest England; results overnight on May 2, 2025.

💬 Key Quote: Nigel Farage described the victory as a “huge night for Reform.”

⚠️ Impact: The victory highlights Reform’s growing influence in British politics, despite Labour’s substantial parliamentary majority.

IN FULL:

The Reform Party’s Sarah Pochin clinched victory in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election (special election) in England by a margin of just six votes, unseating the governing Labour Party in what was previously a “safe” seat. The election, which took place in northwest England, saw Pochin defeat Labour candidate Karen Shore after a recount. The win marks a significant gain for Nigel Farage’s party and signals a shift in the political landscape.

The by-election was initiated after the previous Labour Member of Parliament (MP) resigned following a criminal conviction. “Victory in Runcorn & Helsby proves we are now the opposition party to this Labour government,” said Reform leader Nigel Farage. “With this and other results tonight, it’s clear that if you vote Conservative you will get Labour. But if you vote Reform, you get Reform.”

The Brexit champion was referring to the broader municipal and mayoral elections across England taking place at the same time as the Runcorn by-election. Results are still coming in, but those declared so far indicate massive gains by Reform, huge losses for the Conservative Party, which governed from 2010 to mid-2024, and comparatively small but still significant losses for Labour.

In the House of Commons, Labour retains a substantial majority, holding 403 MPs compared to Reform’s five, while the Conservatives are the primary opposition, with 121 seats. However, the parties’ relative popularity is not as far apart as this would indicate, and national polls now regularly show Reform equalling and in many cases leading the two establishment parties.

In the Runcorn contest, the Conservative candidate managed only a little over seven percent of the vote, while Reform secured 38.72 percent against Labour’s 38.70 percent. The electoral system in the United Kingdom, which follows a first-past-the-post model, tends to favor larger parties. The Conservatives, in particular, have often pressured right-leaning voters dissatisfied with their left-leaning governance into backing them instead of Farage-led parties to keep Labour out.

The Runcorn results suggest this line of argument is no longer effective, with voters ready to vote for Reform in large numbers regardless of the scare tactics employed by the establishment parties.

Image by Gage Skidmore.

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April 4, 2025
Jack Montgomery
Data
UK

DATA: Farage’s Reform Party Takes Commanding Lead Over Governing Labour Party.

PULSE POINTS:

❓ What Happened: A new Find Out Now poll shows Nigel Farage’s Reform Party leading with 28 percent voting intention, driven by strong voter retention and gains from Conservative and non-voting groups, while the governing Labour Party remains stagnant in the low 20s.

👥 Who’s Involved: Reform, Labour, the Conservatives, and the British electorate, with Nigel Farage and the Reform Party gaining momentum.

📍 Where & When: The poll, conducted by Find Out Now, surveyed 2,768 adults on April 2, 2025, with results published on April 4.

💬 Key Quote: A Reform supporter on X declared, “Something is happening, Let’s do this! [Nigel Farage]
for PM!” reflecting a growing belief that the party can break the Labour-Conservative duopoly on British politics.

⚠️ Impact: Reform’s rise signals a potential shift in British politics, with the poll indicating the party is capable of winning a majority in Parliament.

IN FULL:

Reform has taken the lead in a recent Find Out Now voting intention poll, securing 28 percent—a two percent increase since late March—placing them ahead of the ruling Labour Party at 22 percent and the Conservatives, who governed from 2010 to mid-2024, at 20 percent. The poll, conducted on April 2, 2025, with a sample of 2,768 adults, highlights Reform’s growth as they retain nearly all their 2024 general election support, far surpassing other parties in voter loyalty.

Reform has also gained 22 percent of voters who supported the Conservatives in 2024 and 60 percent of those who didn’t vote last year but now say they would “definitely vote” in a new election.

Labour’s support has remained steady but low, fluctuating in the low 20s since November 2024. The Conservatives have fallen two percent to 20 percent, reflecting their loss of ground to Reform. The Liberal Democrats and Greens trail at 13 percent and 11 percent, respectively.

The polling shift coincides with Reform’s strategic push into local politics, as they field 1,630 candidates for the May 2025 local elections in England, outnumbering other major parties.

Reform’s momentum, driven by party leader Nigel Farage, is sparking enthusiasm among supporters, with one X user stating, “Something is happening. Let’s do this! [Nigel Farage] for PM!” and adding, “Make Britain Great Again!”

Image by Gage Skidmore.

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April 3, 2025
Christopher Tomlinson
Lawfare
World

Even the Globalist ‘Economist’ Magazine Says France’s Le Pen Shouldn’t Be Banned from Office.

PULSE POINTS:

❓What Happened: The globalist magazine The Economist has defended Marine Le Pen’s right to run for office, recently stripped away by a court ruling.

👥 Who’s Involved: The Economist, Marine Le Pen, French courts.

📍 Where & When: The article appeared in The Economist on April 1.

💬 Key Quote: “The aim should be to punish the offender without also punishing French democracy,” the magazine argues.

⚠️ Impact: One of the major media outlets for globalists, the stance could reflect a shift against the lawfare deployed against populists in recent years.

IN FULL:

The globalist magazine The Economist has come out to defend populist French politician Marine Le Pen, who has been barred from running for office in France for five years and placed under house arrest for two years. The sentences came after Le Pen and several other members of her party, the National Rally, were found guilty of supposedly misusing European Union (EU) funds while serving as Members of the European Parliament (MEPs).

The magazine questions whether Le Pen should be barred from running for office in the upcoming 2027 presidential election, noting that she is the current leader in the polls.

“The danger of courts aggressively sentencing politicians is that both the law and the courts become seen as partisan. Judiciaries rely on citizens accepting verdicts with which they disagree,” the magazine warns. Barely half, just 56 percent, of the French public believe Le Pen was treated in an unbiased manner.

While the magazine argues that Le Pen should serve two years of house arrest, it states that she should be allowed to run for president in 2027. “The aim should be to punish the offender without also punishing French democracy,” the magazine states.

The court ruling to ban Le Pen from running for office comes after she and other National Rally members were found guilty of embezzling European Union funds by using EU-funded parliamentary assistants to perform domestic party work. Le Pen argued that the charges were bogus lawfare, as parliamentary assistants are “political assistants to elected officials, political by definition.”

Many observers, including liberal journalists, have noted that parliamentary assistants performing political work is commonplace in the European Parliament, meaning Le Pen was almost certainly singled out for her political views.

Image by Blandine Le Cain.

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March 18, 2025
News
Politics
World

Another Populist Presidential Candidate Skeptical of EU and NATO Banned from Running.

Yet another populist presidential candidate has been banned from running in upcoming presidential elections in the European Union (EU). Romania’s Central Election Bureau has barred Diana Sosoaca, a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and leader of the S.O.S. Romania Party, from the race.

The commission cited her opposition to Romania’s memberships in both the European Union and NATO as the basis for this decision, noting the country’s constitution mandates these affiliations.

Sosoaca had recently filed her candidacy while rallying supporters. This marks her second disqualification from a major election following a similar ban last November. She responded on social media, claiming the decision proves that Romania is a democracy in name only, and announced plans to appeal.

This decision comes shortly after the exclusion of another right-populist candidate, Calin Georgescu, who was barred for similar reasons. Georgescu won the first round of the presidential elections before the race was annulled and reset by the courts, supposedly because Russia had been funding TikTok videos supporting his candidacy.

Georgescu was once again leading the polls, but allegations of disseminating false information and incitement against constitutional order saw him barred from participating in the do-over.

Image via NATO. 

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Yet another populist presidential candidate has been banned from running in upcoming presidential elections in the European Union (EU). Romania's Central Election Bureau has barred Diana Sosoaca, a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and leader of the S.O.S. Romania Party, from the race. show more
February 24, 2025
Wake Up Right
World

The Right Rises in Germany.

Germany took a big step to the right as voters went to the polls over the weekend, rebuking years of poor economic growth and unchained illegal immigration under the existing leftist government led by Olaf Scholz.

The details: The big winner was the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) led by Friedrich Merz, which took 28 percent of the vote. The CDU ran a coalition with its sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU).

  • A close second: The “far right“ Alternative for Germany (AfD) party had an impressive turnout with 20.8 percent of the vote.
  • The big loser was the current ruling liberal party, headed by Olaf Schultz — the Social Democratic Party, which only captured 16 percent percent of the vote.

How we got here: The German economy has been ravaged by bad policies like overregulation and green energy mandates—with industrial production (think automakers) down 20 percent since 2017.

  • Energy prices: Additionally, the war in Ukraine has led to rising energy costs, as the country has relied on Russian natural gas. Wholesale electricity is nearly four times higher than it was pre-war.
  • Immigration: Between 2014-2022 Germany imported nearly three million people from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Ukraine. And as of 2022, about 28 percent of its population were foreign-born.

Germany’s new leader: Friedrich Merz is seen as an establishment conservative, and his CDU is the same party as former Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was the godmother of unchecked immigration into Germany. The twist is that while Merkel lurched the party to the left, Merz seeks to set it back towards the right—specifically on combatting immigration, lowering taxes, and removing regulations on businesses.

Winners and losers: The real winner was the global right-wing populist movement. The losers were the mainstream media. The AfD, just like Trump, was slandered by the mainstream media as “far right” and frequently slandered as Nazis and authoritarians. But again and again, voters are tuning out the noise.

Be sure to subscribe to the Wake Up Right newsletter! 

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Germany took a big step to the right as voters went to the polls over the weekend, rebuking years of poor economic growth and unchained illegal immigration under the existing leftist government led by Olaf Scholz. show more
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
February 14, 2025
William Upton
World

Anti-Trump Style Lawfare Grips Europe as Top Populist Faces Criminal Charges Over ‘Offensive’ Posters.

The Czech Republic’s globalist governing majority has voted to strip populist political leader Tomio Okamura—founder of the Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party and a member of the Chamber of Deputies—of legal immunity. Consequently, this will expose the Japanese-born Czech politician to prosecution over allegedly offensive campaign posters, with Okamura potentially facing a total of three years in prison.

Reminiscent of the lawfare campaign waged by former President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party against President Donald J. Trump in the United States, it appears the Czech government is seeking dubious legal means to blunt the country’s populist political insurgency. Currently, Okamura’s SPD and the ANO party—both right-wing and populist in ideology—comprise the bulk of the opposition in the parliament—and are just roughly 10 seats shy of holding a majority in the lower legislative chamber.

A series of campaign posts used by the SPD during last year’s Czech elections are at the center of the legal complaint against Okamura. One poster—apparently AI-generated—features a dark-skinned man holding a bloody knife with the caption: “Shortcomings in healthcare won’t be solved by ‘imported surgeons.’” According to the Czech police, the poster violated the law as it incites hatred against migrants and has a “racist and xenophobic undertone.”

Another poster included in the complaint features several Roma—commonly known by the exonym “Gypsy”—huddled smoking cigarettes instead of being at school. The Czech police claim this poster “has a racist undertone aimed at the Roma ethnic group.”

In an interview with the Czech newspaper Deník N, police spokesman Jan Daněk suggested that the parliamentary vote to strip Okamura of immunity likely opens the door to criminal prosecution. “The initiation of criminal prosecution is the most probable outcome,” Daněk said.

Meanwhile, Okamura remains defiant, responding to the immunity vote by stating: “The governing coalition will not silence me. I am facing a political trial.”

Image by Aktron.

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The Czech Republic's globalist governing majority has voted to strip populist political leader Tomio Okamura—founder of the Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party and a member of the Chamber of Deputies—of legal immunity. Consequently, this will expose the Japanese-born Czech politician to prosecution over allegedly offensive campaign posters, with Okamura potentially facing a total of three years in prison. show more
February 14, 2025
Jack Montgomery
Immigration
World

Vance Tells Germans to Respect AfD and Its Voters.

U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance has called for Germany’s establishment parties to reconsider their policy of shutting out the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Vance said, “I think, unfortunately, the will of voters has been ignored by a lot of our European friends.”

“It’s really about censorship and about migration, about this fear that President Trump and I have, that European leaders are kind of terrified of their own people,” the Vice President explained to the press ahead of his address to the conference.

Vance struck a similar tone when turning to the question of supposed Russian influence over the European political discourse, saying, “If your democratic society can be taken down by $200,000 of social media ads, then you should think seriously about how strong your grip on or how strong your understanding of the will of the people actually is.”

The AfD is currently the second-most popular party in Germany, projected to place ahead of the governing Social Democrats and their current and former coalition partners in the Green and Free Democratic parties. It will likely place behind the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), a notionally right-wing party that occasionally indulges in anti-mass migration rhetoric but was formerly led by Angela Merkel, who opened Germany to millions of Middle Eastern migrants.

Elon Musk, the tech mogul leading the Department for Government Efficiency (DOGE) for the Trump administration, has previously endorsed the AfD, calling it the only party that can save Germany.

Image by Gage Skidmore.

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U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance has called for Germany's establishment parties to reconsider their policy of shutting out the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Vance said, “I think, unfortunately, the will of voters has been ignored by a lot of our European friends.” show more
February 6, 2025
Jack Montgomery
UK

If the UK Voted Today, Farage Would Be Just 17 Seats Short of a Parliamentary Majority.

An analysis of British political polling that puts Nigel Farage’s Reform Party in first place—with 29 percent support to the governing Labour Party’s 25 percent and the formerly governing Conservative Party’s 18 percent—suggests the populist outfit would fall just 17 seats short of the 326 seats required for a governing majority if an election was held today.

‘Stats for Lefties’ converts the polling into 309 seats for Reform, more than double Labour‘s projected 150. The Conservatives, only projected to win 26 seats, collapse to fifth place behind the Liberal Democrats and the left-separatist Scottish National Party (SNP), which does not even contest constituencies (electoral districts) outside Scotland.

Reform is projected to win the majority of seats in Wales and the North, South, and Midlands of England, with only voters in Scotland and hyper-diverse London, where only around a third of residents are classed as White British, denying Farage’s party an outright majority.

It is conceivable that Farage could strike a deal with the eurosceptic, socially conservative Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in Northern Ireland and some of the more right-leaning Conservatives to form a coalition or minority government.

Farage described the polling as “truly astonishing” and urged voters who want to oust Labour not to “waste your vote with the Conservatives.”

Image courtesy of Stuart Mitchell, IncMonocle.

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An analysis of British political polling that puts Nigel Farage's Reform Party in first place—with 29 percent support to the governing Labour Party's 25 percent and the formerly governing Conservative Party's 18 percent—suggests the populist outfit would fall just 17 seats short of the 326 seats required for a governing majority if an election was held today. show more