Secretary of State Marco Rubio is under fire after he publicly condemned Germany’s decision to classify the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party as an extremist organization.
Rubio took to the X platform on Friday to opine that Germany "just gave its spy agency new powers to surveil the opposition."
"That’s not democracy—it’s tyranny in disguise," he wrote. "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."
Jewish organizations have called the party antisemitic, anti-Muslim and anti-democratic.
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"Founded in 2013 as an anti-European Union party, AfD has since radicalized and become an extremist, anti-immigrant party whose aim is 'to eliminate the free democratic basic order,' according to a 2023 report by the German Institute for Human Rights," noted the Anti-Defamation League.
The organization added that Björn Höcke, leader of the AfD party in the state of Thuringia, has "twice been fined by a German court for using a banned Nazi slogan."
"The phrase, 'Everything for Germany' (“Alles für Deutschland”) was a slogan of the Nazi stormtroopers and engraved on their daggers," the ADL noted.
Critics unloaded on Rubio over the post — including Germany's Foreign Office, which sounded the alarm about "right-wing extremism."
"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," German officials replied.
Others joined in condemning Rubio.
"Nothing to see here—just the Secretary of State attacking one of our strongest allies, falsely accusing it of 'tyranny in disguise,' all in defense of a far-right, Holocaust-denying, pro-Putin party. This is INSANE," wrote the Republicans Against Trump account.
"You are in no position to lecture anyone, Marco. And the fact that you are now trying to prop up the AfD just shows how weak you really are," chided Democratic strategist Chris D. Jackson.
"Nothing to see here: just the US Secretary of State advocating for an anti-Semitic, anti-Islamist right-wing German political party ... and then getting posterized by the German Foreign Office's social media manager," remarked Michael A. Cohen, columnist for MSNBC, on X.
"Rubio publicly criticizing an ally for cracking down on right-wing extremism. And Germany hitting back. We are in a new world," commented Noah Barkin, visiting senior fellow at the nonpartisan German Marshall Fund of the United States