Marco Rubio And JD Vance Open War of Words With Germany, Accusing Ally of ‘Tyranny in Disguise’
(Pool via AP)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance took turns on Friday blasting Germany after its domestic intelligence agency officially labeled the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD) an “extremist endeavor.”
“Germany just gave its spy agency new powers to surveil the opposition. That’s not democracy—it’s tyranny in disguise,” Rubio wrote on X of the key U.S. ally and the world’s third-largest economy, adding:
What is truly extremist is not the popular AfD—which took second in the recent election—but rather the establishment’s deadly open border immigration policies that the AfD opposes.
Germany should reverse course.
The Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV), Germany’s equivalent of the FBI, released a statement summing up their investigation that led to the new classification for the AfD:
Following its statutory mandate, the BfV was required to assess the party’s actions against the central fundamental principles of the constitution: human dignity, the principle of democracy, and the rule of law. In addition to the federal party’s platform and statements, the review particularly examined the statements and other behavior of its representatives, as well as their connections to right-wing extremist actors and groups.
The AfD won some 20% of the vote in Germany’s last parliamentary election, but remains isolated politically as none of the other parties will work with its members.
The German Foreign Office hit back at Rubio’s statement, saying, “This is democracy. This decision is the result of a thorough & independent investigation to protect our Constitution & the rule of law. It is independent courts that will have the final say. We have learnt from our history that rightwing extremism needs to be stopped.”
Vance, who attended an AfD conference in February to boost the party ahead of the elections, replied to Rubio, writing, “The AfD is the most popular party in Germany, and by far the most representative of East Germany. Now the bureaucrats try to destroy it.”
“The West tore down the Berlin Wall together. And it has been rebuilt—not by the Soviets or the Russians, but by the German establishment,” he added.
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