All Eyes on Germany’s Far Right: An Historic Sunday Election & Breaking the Extremism Firewall!

In this episode, Alex starts by talking about Mitch McConnell’s legacy, whether there is a need for moderate Republicans anymore, and why CPAC has become an absolute clown show. For the rest of the episode, Alex takes a deep dive into the federal elections that will take place in Germany on Sunday. These elections could be historic, not because the Christian Democratic Union (center right) is expected to win the most seats, but because the Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) may get 20% of the vote. This is insane considering that this party went from a fringe, far-right party a decade ago, to (potentially) the second most popular in Germany. Alex talks about the party’s contradictions; it has a semi-moderate leader but also has ties to Neo-Nazis and holocaust downplaying politicians. It also is listed by German authorities as an extremist organization. Alex talks about Germany’s extremism firewall in which establishment parties won’t form a coalition with groups that are seen as dangerous or far-right. Is this antidemocratic if an antidemocratic party wins seats through democratic means?