German Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized U.S. Vice President JD Vance for comments he made Friday in support of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party just days before Germany's national election
Vance, who was in Munich for the Security Conference, met with AfD party leader Alice Weidel before making a speech where he argued against the long-standing German political practice of isolating the AfD, saying, "There's no room for firewalls" in a democracy. He also accused European governments of suppressing free speech under the guise of fighting misinformation, AP News reported.
"To many of us on the other side of the Atlantic, it looks more and more like old entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet-era words like misinformation and disinformation," Vance said.
Scholz swiftly pushed back, invoking Germany's history with Nazism as the reason mainstream parties refuse to work with far-right groups.
"Out of the experiences of Nazism, the democratic parties in Germany have a joint consensus — that is the firewall against extreme right-wing parties," Scholz wrote on social media.
Germany's Defense Minister Boris Pistorius also condemned Vance's comments, calling them "unacceptable" and rejecting the notion that Europe's democracies resemble authoritarian regimes.
"Every opinion has a voice in this democracy," Postorius insisted, pointing out that Weidel appeared on prime-time German television alongside other candidates one night earlier. "Democracy doesn't mean that the loud minority is automatically right...Democracy must be able to defend itself against the extremists who want to destroy it."
Vance's support of the AfD follows Elon Musk's vocal advocacy on behalf of the party, which has been repeatedly accused of harboring extremist ideals. Polls show the AfD in second place with around 20% support ahead of the Feb. 23 election.
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