PU 53: The AfD Wins Bigly

Did the voters in a small German federal state just vote for a new Nazi party? What exactly is the Alternative für Deutschland about and how does it relate to Trumpism?Punching Upwards, Episode 53 for 13 September 2026Topics: Politics / Trumpism🦉 No AI Content 📢 Podcast RSS FeedCreditsThanks to Michael Mullan-Jensen, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Vlad A Gouf, Fadi Mansour, Bennet Piater, Eric and Sir Galteran for supporting this podcast financially and therefore making it possible for me to produce it!Sources* Germany’s far-right AfD hails big victory in east, but falls short of majority, The BBC, 7 September 2026* Germany has found itself in a state of shock after the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), an anti-immigration and socially conservative party, surged to a historic victory in Sunday’s regional election in Saxony-Anhalt, Tweet by CBS News, 7 September 2026* AfD holt Wahlsieg – aber keine absolute Mehrheit, Tagesschau, 7 September 2026* AfD wants to form a government in Saxony-Anhalt – but how?, Deutsche Welle, 7 September 2026* Merz’s immigration plan to head off the AfD, The Telegraph, 6 September 2026* Was die AfD beim Verfassungsschutz ändern könnte, Tagesschau, 11 September 2026* Prüfung von AfD-Verbotsverfahren: “Der nächste logische Schritt”, 11 September 2026* German nationalists’ big win sounds alarm for mainstream politicians in Europe, The Washington Post, 12 September 2026* Merz’s Popularity Plunges to Record Low for a German Chancellor, Bloomberg, 8 May 2026* Mass deportations and separate schools for refugees: The far-right AfD’s vision for Germany, CNN, 7 September 2026* The Predictable Earthquake: What Saxony Anhalt Tells Us About Europe, Modern Diplomacy, 10 September 2027* New attempts to ban the AfD will only boost its support, UnHerd, 10 September 2026* German schoolchildren banned from wearing AfD T-shirts, The Telegraph, 27 August 2026* What is the “political firewall” against Germany’s AfD?, 23 August 2026* Germany’s Merz attacks AfD in stormy debate after far-right election win, The BBC, 9 September 2026* Merz accuses AfD of “ethnic cleansing” policy and cancels call with Trump, The Guardian, 9 September 2026* AfD files criminal complaint against Merz, Daily Telegraph New Zealand, 12 September