#afd)

All the Americans who died in WWII fighting fascism would be appalled by JD Vance's speech in Munich and his later meeting with the a neofascist AfD leader.

Vice President JD Vance urged European leaders on Friday to end the isolation of far-right parties across the continent, an extraordinary embrace of a once-fringe political movement with which the Trump administration shares a common approach on migration, identity and internet speech. [...] The vice president singled out his German hosts, telling them to drop their objections to working with a party that has often reveled in banned Nazi slogans and has been shunned from government as a result. He did not mention the party, the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, by name, but directly referred to the longstanding agreement by mainstream German politicians to freeze out the group, parts of which have been formally classified as extremist by German intelligence. “There is no room for firewalls,” Mr. Vance said, bringing some gasps in the hall. He punctuated the message by meeting on Friday with Alice Weidel, the AfD’s candidate for chancellor in this month’s election, as well as other German leaders. [...] Mr. Vance aggressively challenged the diplomats in the hall in Munich, telling them that their biggest security threat was not from China or Russia, but “the enemy within” — what he called their suppression of abortion protests and other forms of free speech.

It was breathtakingly hypocritical for Vance to scold Europe for not being true to its democratic ideals--much less to do so in a speech delivered in Germany, which in the mid-20th century had lost its democratic institutions because some Germans allowed Nazis to get a foothold in their government.

If you give fascists an inch, they will take a mile.

In his speech, Vance was indignant that Europe has erected "firewalls" against far-right political parties. Ignoring the fact that fascism took over Germany through a democratic, legal process. Specifically, once he became prime minister, it only took Hitler and his Nazi cronies 53 days to destroy the Weimar Republic through legal, constitutional means.

Germany in particular KNOWS if they give fascists an inch, they will take a mile.

It doesn't help Vance's case that in less than a month's time, Trump, Musk, and MAGA Republicans have taken a sledgehammer in the U.S. to the law and the Constitution, and appear to be trying to establish an autocratic if not downright neofascist state.

No politician has a "mandate" if they were elected because of disinformation and lies.

Vance clutched his pearls that the Romanian government just nullified an election because it was proven that there was a deep Russian disinformation campaign to propel a far-right party into power.

Besides the fact that Vance hypocritically works for Trump who attempted "coup" to overturn a fair election, Vance wants the world to ignore the fact that any political candidate who is elected into power based on lies and disinformation is in fact NOT a representative of the will of the people because they were elected fraudulently (i.e., if they had told the truth, they might not have been elected).

Consider Trump. If he had not lied and distanced himself from the deeply unpopular Project 2025, but had instead said he planned on using it as a blueprint for his second term, how many of those swing state voters would have actually voted for him?

Therefore, Trump has NO mandate that reflects the "will of the people" not only because he was NOT elected by a majority of the voters (just a plurality) but because he lied about his true intentions for a second administration during his campaign.

[See more about how Vance hypocritically turns "free speech" on its head below the cut.]

Elon Musk seemingly endorsed the far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on Friday.

The big picture: The X owner has used his social media platform to promote his own ideologies. Since gaining more influence in the incoming Trump administration, the billionaire CEO appears to be exercising that power over politics in the U.S. and abroad.

Musk has shown recent support for other European right-wing populist politicians, including Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni and British politician Nigel Farage, who is big Trump champion in the U.K.

Driving the news: "Only the AfD can save Germany," Musk posted on X.

His message was in response to a post from German right-wing influencer Naomi Seibt, criticizing conservative chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz.

Context: Germany will hold a snap election in February, after a center-left coalition government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz collapsed.

AfD became the first far-right party this year to win a regional election in Germany since World War II.