All posts tagged "germany"

GOP lawmaker swatted down on CNN for defense of Vance and Musk 'flirting with Nazism'

Panelists on CNN's State of the Union sparred over two top Trump administration officials — Vice President J.D. Vance and adviser Elon Musk — "flirting with Nazism" following the vice president's eyebrow-raising speech at last week's Munich Security Conference.

On Friday, Vance claimed Germany should not shun its far-right political parties.

"Europeans, the people, have a voice," Vance said. "You can embrace what your people tell you, even when it's surprising, even when you don't agree."

While in Europe, Vance met with the leader of German's nationalist AdF party, as well as with the head of the center-right Christian Democratic Union party. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz rebuked Vance's speech, posting to social media, "I expressly reject what US Vice President Vance said at the Munich Security Conference. From the experience of National Socialism, the democratic parties in Germany have a common consensus: this is the firewall against extreme right-wing parties.”

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On CNN Sunday, Rep. Laura Gillen (D-NY) said, "What J.D. Vance is doing in Germany is really concerning. We have seen a spike in anti-semitism in the United States, just in my in New York, my home state. We had shocking incidents at Columbia. We have students afraid to go to go to school. The Anti-Defamation League has called out AdF, and J.D. Vance is embracing a group that flirts with Nazism. I's really, really disturbing."

Republican Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV) interjected, "Now, I'm sorry, he's not flirting with Nazism. What he's talking about here, what Vice President Vance is talking about is the censorship and the manipulation of elections that have been happening in Europe. It's been happening on this side of the pond. He is correct. He is 100% correct on this. And if we want free, fair elections, people have got to stop meddling."

"It's pure hypocrisy," Gillen shot back, "and let's not forget that AdF is a party that's being boosted by Elon Musk. So, he's helping support Elon Musk do regime change in Germany.

Watch the clip below via CNN or at the link..

'This guy would be in jail already': German reporter reveals how people abroad see Trump

Former President Donald Trump's Manhattan hush money trial is being viewed in a totally different way abroad, German Der Spiegel reporter Marc Pitzke told MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace on Wednesday.

This comes as Trump is set to receive a ruling on whether he violated the gag order in the case, which charges him with business fraud in connection with his cover up payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.

When it comes to Germany's relationship with the U.S., Pitzke said, "It's always this back and forth. And when Trump came into office, it sort of crystallized that. And it also — this balance got totally out of whack. He brought up the ugly — you talk about this on this show all the time. And it's, you know, it's really people after 2020, people said okay, we need a break. It's like you're in a dysfunctional relationship. You can't stop. You don't know how to get out, but you suffer. And it was the same way with Germany. We've been tied to you guys since World War II. You liberated us, but we resent you for it. There are all these different layers. And then Trump comes in. He personifies everything for us. So it's been — We're all tired."

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"Tell me what, for you, has jumped out?" asked Wallace. "Because as you said, we've been living with this for so long now. What, in terms of what you heard so far, surprised you?"

"Nothing really surprises me anymore about him," said Pitzke. "I was there when he came down that escalator. So every time there is like boiling frogs. Every time there is another thing happening, oh, okay, okay. What really surprises me now how the prosecution, how they put everything together. Like the opening statements were very tight, very short, but it was a narrative that you could follow. And for the first time we've talked about this for months. And since the arraignment, since the indictment a year ago, now we can really see this coming to life through people."

"Like, nobody knows David Pecker in Germany," he added. "But if you tell our readers that this is the guy who knows the secrets, this is the guy with the vault, the safe, then they — it's just amazing the depth of the alleged depravity behind all this. Like listening to David Pecker talk about this. We knew about 'catch and kill' and how it worked. We read Ronan Farrow and all that. But to really see how these stories were launched by Michael Cohen and by Trump, it's shocking. Nothing like this could ever happen in Germany, I hope. This guy would be in jail already in Germany."

Watch the video below or at the link.

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Scholz warns against playing with Europe's security after Trump jibes

Following U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump's statements on NATO support, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has reaffirmed the alliance's common defense.

"NATO'S promise of protection applies unreservedly. All for one. One for all," Scholz said on Monday in Berlin at a meeting with the new, pro-European Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Scholz went on to explain that he wanted to make it clear in light of the current situation: "Any relativization of NATO's guarantee of assistance is irresponsible and dangerous and is solely in Russia's interests. Nobody should play with Europe's security."

France, Germany and Poland want to tackle Russian disinformation

The foreign ministers of France, Germany and Poland meeting near Paris on Monday said they want to work together to tackle Russian disinformation efforts.

The three countries have agreed on a joint warning mechanism against Russian troll attacks, French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné said on Monday in La Celle-Saint-Cloud near Paris after a meeting with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and his Polish colleague Radosław Sikorski.

The three countries had fallen victim to the same Russian destabilization strategy and wanted to defend themselves together, they said.

639-year-long John Cage organ piece in German church changes chord

Twenty-two years into the slowest piece of music in the world, a significant musical development has taken place — a slight chord change.

The 639-year organ piece by experimental composer and philosopher John Cage has added a single tone to the chord in the church where it is being continuously played in the German town of Halberstadt.

The six-note chord, played in the Burchardi Church since February 2022, has now evolved into a seven-note one with the addition of a pipe playing a D note set to sound continuously for another four and a half years (until August 2028).

Arnold Schwarzenegger auctions off luxury watch after customs spat

Actor and former U.S. politician Arnold Schwarzenegger auctioned off a €270,000 ($293,547) watch at a charity on Thursday evening to benefit climate initiatives, according to the climate group he founded.

The minimum bid for the watch that Schwarzenegger owns was €50,000 and the proceeds from the auction are to be donated to climate projects.

The sale was preceded by exchanges with customs officials earlier in the week. On Wednesday, the Austrian-born actor was detained by customs at Munich airport when he arrived in Germany.

German customs release Arnold Schwarzenegger after luxury watch furor

Actor and former U.S. politician Arnold Schwarzenegger was briefly detained by German customs officers at Munich Airport on Wednesday for allegedly failing to declare a valuable luxury watch.

Austrian-born Schwarzenegger was eventually able to continue on his journey, said a spokesman for the main customs office in Munich on Wednesday evening.

He was also able to take the watch with him. Criminal tax proceedings had been initiated against Schwarzenegger, a world-champion bodybuilder and action film star who also served two terms as governor of California.

Trump victory in Iowa raises alarm in Berlin: 'High time to prepare'

Following former US president Donald Trump's victory in the first Republican primary, German politicians have called on the government to prepare for the possibility of another Trump term in office. "The German government can no longer ignore domestic political developments in the United States. The US is too important a partner for that," Jürgen Hardt, a senior lawmaker from the conservative CDU/CSU opposition bloc, told dpa on Tuesday. Although many Iowa Republicans did not vote for Trump, Hardt said it is nonetheless "high time to prepare for a president Trump." Trump's bellicose rhetoric d...

Turkish President Erdogan calls Israel 'terror state' following Germany visit

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reiterated his harsh rhetoric on Israel to call it a "terror state" on Saturday, hours after his return from a visit to Berlin.

"The person in charge of this terror state has at the moment made the the Israeli people cry out and revolt against himself. That is why his end is near," said Erdoğan, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Erdoğan further associated Western governments, including Germany, to what he called "the crusader imperialist structure," without further elaborating.

Germany's Scholz backs two-state solution, criticizes Israeli settlements

Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated support for a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict and called for an immediate halt to Israeli settlement on the West Bank during a town hall meeting in his constituency on Saturday.

"Our view is that there has to be a two-state solution," Scholz said in Nuthetal near Berlin. "There has to be the prospect of peaceful coexistence between Israel as state and a Palestinian state," he said.

This is in Israel's own best interest, he added.