One of the great shocks to the Left in the European elections, was the gains made by the far-Right Alternative for Germany (AfD). There were gains in all age groups, but young voters enthusiastically supported the party, with 16 percent of youths voting for the AfD. The AfD made creative and productive use of social media, more than the other parties, using TikTok and Instagram to get its message across.
Tübingen's mayor, Boris Palmer, has attributed the success of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party among young voters to the ramifications of mass migration, which have transformed the nation: "They experience what irregular migration means on a daily basis," according to Palmer.
"Above all, the young men who have arrived alone are changing the living environment of young people. In the park, in the club, on the street, on the bus, at the train station, in the schoolyard."
As the globalists are not going to back down, it looks like, at long last, the fight is on. May the best nationalist win!
https://www.dw.com/en/afd-how-germanys-far-right-won-over-young-voters/a-69324954
"The far-right populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) made gains in almost all age groups in the 2024 European elections, but its biggest success was among young people. In the last EU election, in 2019, one in three voters younger than 24 chose the Green Party, and the far-right AfD garnered just 5% of the young vote.
In 2024, 16% of youths voted for the AfD, tripling the party's share in this demographic and putting it almost on par with the center-right alliance of the Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU).
The AfD was skeptical about Germany's plans to lower the voting age to 16 for the EU election. In 2018, it even took the matter to court in the state of Thuringia. The AfD argued that the Left Party, the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) and environmentalist Greens only wanted to secure their power by lowering the age from 18 to 16 because a majority of young people would vote for them. The court dismissed the complaint.
AfD: The 'TikTok party'
Since then, the AfD has strategically targeted young people like no other German party — and this has paid off. Through targeted campaigns on social media — mainly TikTok and Instagram — the AfD has managed to strike a chord with young people: the messages are emotional and easy to understand.
The controversial AfD top candidate Maximilian Krah regularly takes to TikTok with simple and direct messages. Here is one notorious example:
"One in three young men in Germany has never had a girlfriend. Are you one of them?" Krah asks and continues with advice: "Don't watch porn, don't vote green, go outside into the fresh air. Be confident. And above all don't believe you need to be nice and soft. Real men stand on the far right. Real men are patriots. That's the way to find a girlfriend!"
Maximilian Krah stands out on TikTok with his staid suits and pocket square, but he combines crisp punchlines and humor and has been hugely successful.
But Krah is more than just a TikTok political influencer. The AfD's lead candidate for the EU vote is suspected of taking money from Russian propaganda channels and employing a Chinese spy. Shortly before the election, he told an Italian newspaper that members of the German SS during the Second World War were not all bad. The SS was an organization that was responsible like no other for the industrial mass murder of European Jews during the National Socialist era from 1933 to 1945. Outrage at Krah's revisionism came from all over Europe and even from other far-right parties.
The AfD party leadership then banned Krah from making campaign appearances. But young voters were either not interested in the scandals or didn't even notice them.
Democrats without a strategy
The AfD reaches as many young people in Germany on TikTok as all the other parties combined. Traditional parties in Germany have so far done little to counter the AfD and its modern social media strategy.
When Chancellor Olaf Scholz made his first appearance on his newly created TikTok channel this year, it was to show his battered briefcase. A video that made the chancellor seem out of touch with the somewhat garish TikTok world.
Five years ago, young voters' main topic of concern was fighting climate change. In 2024, this issue has faded into the background. According to a recent study by the Bertelsmann Foundation, they are primarily concerned about peace in Europe. The majority of 16 to 25-year-olds named "securing peace" as the most important issue.
Again, the AfD's Maximilian Krah seems to have struck the right note in a TikTok video:
"The war in Ukraine is not your war. Zelenskyy is not your president," he says. "But this is costing you money and you are running the risk that Germany gets dragged into this war, otherwise you will have to go and fight on the eastern front where your grandfather's brothers and cousins lost their lives…"
"Why did the youth vote for AfD? Famed German mayor says the youth are dealing with mass migration 'on the street, on the bus, at the train station, in the schoolyard'
"Above all, the young men who have arrived alone are changing the living environment of young people. In the park, in the club, on the street, on the bus, at the train station, in the schoolyard," he added.
Arguably Germany's most famous currently serving mayor, Tübingen's Boris Palmer, has attributed the success of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party among young voters to the consequences of mass migration, which have transformed the school.
"Above all, the young men who have arrived alone are changing the living environment of young people. In the park, in the club, on the street, on the bus, at the train station, in the schoolyard," he added.
Notably, Palmer was once a Green party mayor, but as he became known more and more for his outspokenness against mass immigration and other political taboos, the party worked to eject him. Nevertheless, he remained so popular with the people of his city that they elected him as an unaffiliated mayor, which means he is running Tübingen independent of any political party.
He warned that anyone who is in contact with young people in Germany knows that they repeatedly note "their fear of migrants' propensity for violence," but that this view is not taken seriously or "discredited as racism."
Palmer's assertion is backed by the country's own crime data from the federal interior ministry, which shows that violent crime hit record highs in 2023, with foreigners producing six out of 10 violent crimes. His point about migrant violence on trains is also backed by data as well. In regard to the school system, the deleterious effect migrants are having, including in terms of violence, is an open topic in the German media.
Furthermore, Palmer points to the "dogmas of wokeness and open borders," which do not match the reality of young people's lives. As a result, "they are reorienting themselves and voting for a party that at least doesn't dismiss their concerns as bad and wrong from the outset."
Palmer claims that the AfD will not "solve the problem" and says that most young people are not "stupid enough" to believe the AfD can do this. However, these young people will not vote for parties that attempt to label them as racist or as part of the problem.
He said that the left is also harming the cause of climate protection, as they link the struggle against climate change to the struggle against the right, including with activists such as Luisa Neubauer.
"This is gambling away the social majorities for climate protection, even among young people," said Palmer.