A delegation of the right-wing Alternative for Germany party (AfD) met with representatives of the US Government in Washington DC.
The gathering yesterday was reported by German news portal Nius, whose editor Ralf Schuler accompanied the right-wingers on their trip to the White House.
The delegation included deputy party leader Beatrix von Storch and Joachim Paul, the AfD’s candidate for mayor in the industrial city of Ludwigshafen. Paul made headlines in August after a commission of his political rivals banned him from the mayoral election on September 21, claiming he “lacked constitutional loyalty”.
“We met with representatives of the White House Domestic Policy Council, the State Department, the Vice President’s Office and the National Security Council”, von Storch told Nius after the visit.
She added that this direct contact with the US administration – bypassing all official institutions of the German Government – might be the start of an independent “foreign policy” for the AfD.
The invitation came after Paul’s case was brought to the attention of the Trump administration by prominent journalist Michael Shellenberger.
On September 9, at a White House press briefing, Shellenberger asked whether US President Donald Trump was considering additional measures against Europe in light of “efforts to basically just prevent candidates from being able to compete in election”, explicitly mentioning Joachim Paul.
“Joachim Paul, this mayoral candidate in Germany, the criminal indictment against him, cites him saying that he loves the Lord of the Rings as reason why he’s — he’s an extremist and shouldn’t be able to run.
“So, I just wonder if you could speak to that?” Shellenberger asked White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Leavitt answered: “Freedom of speech is arguably the most important issue of our time. It is enshrined in our Constitution and the President believes in it strongly.
“He himself faced censorship in his road back to this beautiful Oval Office here in Washington, DC. So he takes this very seriously, as does, I know, the Vice President of the United States and the entire Trump administration.”
Paul has tried to fight his disqualification from the mayoral race in the courts.
The Administrative Court in Neustadt an der Weinstraße (Rhineland-Palatinate), though, upheld the decision of the Ludwigshafen election commission on August 18. So did the Higher Administrative Court in Koblenz on August 25.
Paul has now launched a suit at the German Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe, claiming his ban from the election violates Germany’s Constitution.
He has also brought a similar suit before the Constitutional Court of Rhineland-Palatinate. Whether either court will decide before the election on September 21 is not known.
