Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), a MAGA-aligned lawmaker and ally to President Donald Trump, is facing condemnation for pledging to “roll out the red carpet” for members of Alternative for Germany (AfD), a far-right political party that has been accused of promoting Holocaust denial and pro-Nazi rhetoric.
“At a time where antisemitism is at historical levels in this country, Anna Paulina Luna inviting representatives of a party that has invoked Nazi-slogans and imagery to Congress is nothing short of revolting,” said Madison Andrus, the spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, speaking with NOTUS in its report Tuesday.
Sometime in October, Luna had met with Anna Rathert, a lawmaker in the German parliament and deputy spokesperson for the AfD, sharing a brief clip of the meeting on social media on Oct. 29. Alongside the video, Luna wrote her appreciation for Rathert meeting with her, and said she looked “forward to hosting” her and other AfD members in Washington, D.C. in December.
While Rathert would go on to celebrate the meeting as “great,” Andrus went on to condemn the invitation, characterizing it as an insult to her own constituents, with Florida having the third-largest population of Jewish Americans in the nation.
“Members of the AfD have met with avowed neo-Nazis, attempted to minimize the Holocaust, and stoked political violence,” Andrus continued. “Florida is home to the [third]-largest Jewish population in the country, and Luna inviting the AfD into the halls of Congress is a betrayal of those communities.”
Luna’s Democratic House colleagues did not mince words, either. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), the co-chair of a House task force focused on combating antisemitism, called Luna’s invitation of AfD members, whom he called “Holocaust revisionists," “Putin-loving” and “grotesque.” Rick Stark, a former Democratic lawmaker, called it "disturbing."
“[Luna’s actions are] all the more disturbing given her own grandfather’s apparent Nazi past,” Goldman told NOTUS, referencing a Washington Post article that revealed Luna’s grandfather had served in Nazi Germany’s military during World War II.
“There’s no gray area here. Every member of Congress, especially our Republican colleagues, must call out this dangerous laundering of Kremlin talking points and make clear that antisemitism and hate have no place in our politics or our diplomacy.”