The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has urged mainstream parties not to lend support to the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which won a big victory in the eastern state of Thuringia in Sunday’s regional election.
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The AfD has been designated as right-wing extremist in both Thuringia and Saxony. Björn Höcke, the AfD leader in Thuringia, has previously been fined for using a Nazi slogan, although he denies knowingly doing so.
On Monday, Mr Scholz urged other parties to block the AfD from governing by maintaining a so-called firewall against it.
It’s also not unique to Germany as well. As an American its crazy how much this just sounds like what’s going on in America with the Democrats slowly shifting to the right on things like immigration. Capitulating to the right wing framing on these issues doesn’t help you win, it just pushes more people to the right since you’re basically saying they’re right.