The German Government has doubled down on its public assault against US presidential hopeful Donald Trump.
The German foreign office sparked controversy on September 11 with a post accusing Trump of getting a claim about the country’s weakening “green” energy situation wrong during his debate with US Vice-President Kamala Harris.
Despite receiving backlash in the US, German authorities have decided to up their attacks, with a minister publicly accusing Trump of spreading “disinformation”.
Widerspruch mit Fakten und Humor – das ist die richtige Antwort auf #Desinformation. Wir können uns als Demokraten nicht länger erlauben, Falschaussagen unkommentiert stehen zu lassen. Das sollte auch die CDU verstehen. 1/2 @n_roettgen @juergenhardt https://t.co/kDNMQL6Rsv pic.twitter.com/BVker99VWc
— Anna Lührmann (@AnnaLuehrmann) September 12, 2024
“As democrats, we can no longer allow false statements to stand uncommented,” The Greens’ Anna Lührmann, minister of state for European affairs and climate, wrote on X.
She added that the initial attack on Trump had “reached more than six million accounts with important facts”, adding that — despite numerous reports to the contrary — Germany’s “energy supply is and will remain stable”.
The backlash against the minister’s comments was swift, with one Christian Democratic Union (CDU) official coming out to ask her Greens party to stop antagonising an individual who could soon be US president.
“Can you try not to cause any damage to the Federal Republic of Germany in the foreseeable future until the end of your participation in government?” the CDU’s Manuel Schwalm requested.
Jim Jordan, chairman of the powerful House Judiciary Committee, says Breton has sent an “inaccurate” letter to his committee in an attempt to deny he was threatening to force Musk into censoring content.https://t.co/IqTGcSrSQm
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) September 10, 2024
Richard Grenell, a former US ambassador to Germany and member of the previous Trump administration, took to social media to accuse the German administration of engaging in “blatant electoral interference”.
“The blatant election interference from the German Government is worse than the Russian and Iranian interference,” he said.
“We see this clearly and will react accordingly.”
Other Republicans have expressed fears that the EU is gearing up to interfere in the presidential race.
In a letter seen by Brussels Signal on September 10, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan warned the European Commission’s Thierry Breton that his recent actions had provoked concerns that the EU wanted to tamper with the US vote.
“Your assertion that you would ‘never interfere in the American democratic process’ is contradicted by your actions,” Jordan wrote in a letter, which centred on the use of the EU’s Digital Services Act to censor free speech.
As previously reported by Brussels Signal, Irish parliamentarian and former prime minister Leo Varadkar was spotted socialising with Nancy Pelosi and other senior Democrats at the party’s national convention in August.
Varadkar — a senior figure in EC President Ursula von der Leyen’s European People’s Party — posted images from his time at the event on his personal social media.
Germany’s planned coal phase-out will lead to enormous supply gaps in the power grid, according to the head of the country’s primary domestic energy company. https://t.co/UrzRjgi3fg
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) March 13, 2024
