Germany's far-right AfD party copied Trump's playbook and won.
asserted
party → copy → playbook
It now hopes to use it to govern
asserted
It → hop → it
After strong showing in state election, AfD has 1st chance to govern and is looking to U.S. for inspiration
Christian Machek is at a rally for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in Berlin.
asserted
Machek → have → Berlin
Despite backing a nationalist party thousands of kilometres from the United States, he considers himself both an AfD and "Trump supporter."
asserted
himself → back → States
The AfD secured a resounding victory in a recent regional election in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt, where the party is designated as right-wing extremist by the local domestic intelligence agency.
asserted
party → secure → agency
U.S. President Donald Trump celebrated the win on social media.
asserted
Trump → celebrate → media
"I was happy [Trump] congratulated the AfD for a good campaign," said Machek, an Austrian Belgian citizen who lives in Berlin and says he works with the party in Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, as an assistant to its spokesperson on religious affairs.
asserted
he → congratulate → affairs
Ahead of Sunday's Berlin state election, the AfD party is polling just three points behind first place, according to a Sept. 10 survey conducted by German election research company Infratest-Dimap.
uncertain
party → poll → Dimap
Machek, who also works for Europa Aeterna, which describes itself as a conservative political philosophy association rooted in Christianity, said the AfD is instilling a sense of patriotism and hope for the future.
asserted
AfD → work → future
He sees Trump as a strong leader who also inspires national pride.
asserted
who → see → pride
"I'm a Trump supporter from the beginning," said Machek.
asserted
Machek → say → beginning
Just gives us hope that we're not alone."
asserted
we → give → hope
The AfD fell just short of securing an absolute majority in Saxony-Anhalt, but it still has a chance of becoming the first far-right party to hold state power since the Second World War.
asserted
it → fall → War
In Germany, governments are usually run by a coalition of parties, meaning the AfD will need co-operation from other political parties or individual elected representatives to govern.
asserted
AfD → run → parties
Far-right victory in German state expected to send shockwaves throughout the world
- Analysis
Germany's AFD could become 1st far-right party to hold state power since WWII.
uncertain
AFD → expect → WWII
What could that mean?
uncertain
that → mean → What
AfD politicians cite Trump as the inspiration for some of their cultural policies, an area the party will control if it successfully forms government.
asserted
it → cite → government
They've even used the catchphrase "Make Saxony-Anhalt Great Again" on the campaign trail, an echo of Trump's MAGA slogan.
asserted
Anhalt → use → slogan
Although many AfD talking points pre-date Trump, the populist party is one of several around the world for which the U.S. president has provided a blueprint for how to gain mainstream support.
asserted
president → pre → support
"Trump represents a model … of how you can whip up the base, how you can make electoral gains, and maybe even how you can seize power," said Eric Langenbacher, a political scientist with the American-German Institute in Washington, D.C.
"The fact that he's shown that what people thought were fantastical policies can actually be implemented, I think that is the biggest impact that he's had on the AfD, on Germany, and on many other countries as well."
asserted
he → represent → countries
Hard line on immigration
Langenbacher said some of the AfD's strict immigration policies echo those implemented by the Trump administration.
asserted
some → say → administration
In Saxony-Anhalt, the AfD has said it wants to strip citizenship from immigrants who commit crimes, expand detention centres for deportees and create a "deportation task force," a term Trump started using during his 2016 presidential campaign.
asserted
Trump → say → campaign
"Sometimes, I feel like in Saxony-Anhalt, they just cut and paste from Project 2025," said Langenbacher, referring to the policy blueprint from the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank, that has inspired some of Trump's efforts to reshape government and immigration enforcement.
asserted
that → feel → enforcement
The similarities between Trump and the AfD are evident to Anne-Christin Richter, 43, who lived and worked for a commercial vehicle manufacturer in Detroit for 10 years.
asserted
who → live → years
She recently moved back to her hometown of Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt's capital.
asserted
She → move → Magdeburg
Richter said her community feels more divided than when she left and though she can't attribute this directly to the AfD, she fears the party's anti-immigration rhetoric is fuelling racism in her community.
asserted
rhetoric → say → community
Her daughters are both Black, and she says one of them was called a racial slur at a Magdeburg playground about a year ago.
asserted
one → say → playground
Richter said it happened when her daughter, now seven, tried standing up to an older child who was taunting immigrant children at the park.
asserted
who → say → park
A rise in racist rhetoric is something Richter said she also observed while living under Trump.
asserted
she → say → Trump
"You could see in the [Michigan] suburbs, suddenly, people started to say, ‘We don't want anybody to run around in our neighbourhood that's coloured,'" said Richter, whose boyfriend is Black.
uncertain
boyfriend → see → neighbourhood
"As soon as [Trump] was in power, everybody knew, ‘Now, we can say what we're really thinking,' right?
asserted
we → know → what
AfD looks to revamp public buildings
If it successfully forms government in Saxony-Anhalt, the AfD will control cultural and education policy, and it has said it will implement a widespread "patriotic shift" across society.
asserted
it → look → society
Hans-Thomas Tillschneider is an AfD politician in Saxony-Anhalt who wrote the sections on education and culture in the party's manifesto.
asserted
who → write → manifesto
He told CBC News at an AfD event in mid-August that he's inspired by Trump.
asserted
he → tell → Trump
"We will make Germany great again," said Tillschneider.
asserted
Tillschneider → make → ?
"We will rebuild our wealth, our freedom, our liberty.
asserted
We → rebuild → wealth
Don't be afraid."
The AfD's manifesto proposes following the example of a first-term Trump executive order to promote classical architecture in public buildings.
asserted
manifesto → propose → buildings
It has specifically singled out for criticism the world-renowned Bauhaus movement and one of its original, 100-year-old buildings, which used to be an architecture school, in Saxony-Anhalt.
asserted
which → single → Anhalt
The AfD's manifesto calls Bauhaus untraditional and unnationalistic.
asserted
manifesto → call → Bauhaus
Barbara Steiner, the CEO of the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, said this kind of criticism predates Trump and has roots in the Nazi era, when the Bauhaus school was labelled "alien" and "lacking tradition."
asserted
school → say → tradition
…and 16 more, not listed.
The Aporia
