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election
Vance Faces Backlash Over Embrace of Germany's Far-Right Just Ahead of Election
Rebuking the U.S. vice president, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that "a commitment to 'never again' is not reconcilable with support for the AfD."
Feb 15, 2025
U.S. Vice President JD Vance faced growing backlash on Saturday after scolding the European political establishment for shunning far-right parties and subsequently meeting with the leader of the neo-Nazi Alternative for Germany, just a week ahead of the country's general election.
While Vance did not explicitly mention Alternative for Germany, or AfD, during his remarks Friday at the Munich Security Conference, he declared that "there is no room for firewalls"—a reference to mainstream German political parties' refusal to work with AfD or include it in governing coalitions.
The Guardian reported that "a whisper of 'Jesus Christ' and the squirming in chairs could be heard in an overflow room" during the U.S. vice president's remarks, which he delivered a week after hundreds of thousands took to the streets of Munich to protest far-right extremism.
Following his speech, Vance met with AfD leader Alice Weidel, who praised the vice president's Munich address as "excellent" in a post on X—a social media platform owned by billionaire Elon Musk, who has also expressed support for AfD as he works to dismantle agencies throughout the U.S. government.
Reuters reported that Weidel—whose grandfather was a Nazi judge appointed directly by Adolf Hitler—met with Vance at his hotel "for about 30 minutes and discussed the Ukraine war, German domestic policy, and freedom of speech."
Vance was the highest-ranking U.S. official to ever meet with the leader of the AfD, which is seen as the most extreme of Europe's far-right parties.
On Saturday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz rebuked Vance and said that "we will not accept outsiders intervening in our democracy," even "friends and allies."
"Never again fascism, never again racism, never again aggressive war," Scholz said in his speech at the Munich Security Conference. "That is why an overwhelming majority in our country opposes anyone who glorifies or justifies criminal National Socialism."
"A commitment to 'never again' is not reconcilable with support for the AfD," said Scholz.
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Democrat Flips Seat in Alabama House After Running on Abortion Rights
Democrats see the win in Alabama as a sign that supporting reproductive rights will make a difference in November.
Mar 27, 2024
Marilyn Lands, a Democratic candidate for a state House seat in Alabama, won a special election on Tuesday, defeating Republican Teddy Powell.
Lands focused her campaign on reproductive rights, including support for access to in vitro fertilization and abortion. The election was for a seat in Madison City, and it was previously held by a Republican.
"Today, Alabama women and families sent a clear message that will be heard in Montgomery and across the nation. Our legislature must repeal Alabama's no-exceptions abortion ban, fully restore access to IVF, and protect the right to contraception," Lands said in a statement.
Congrats to my friend Marilyn Lands on her resounding victory in the Alabama House District 10 special election. She campaigned on women’s reproductive freedom and pushing back on the culture wars being waged by AL Republicans. This is a big win for a better, stronger Alabama.…
— Doug Jones (@DougJones) March 27, 2024
Alabama has a strict abortion ban, and a February Alabama Supreme Court ruling declared that frozen embryos are people, imperiling access to in vitro fertilization in the state following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022. Lands' opponent supported the state's abortion ban.
"This special election is a harbinger of things to come—Republicans across the country have been put on notice that there are consequences to attacks on IVF—from the bluest blue state to the reddest red, voters are choosing to fight for their fundamental freedoms by electing Democrats across the country," Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, told Politico.
Democrats see Lands' win as a sign that supporting reproductive rights could continue to be a winner in November, even in deeply red states like Alabama. President Joe Biden voiced his support for access to IVF and abortion in his State of the Union address earlier this month.
"Marilyn Lands' victory demonstrates that voters aren't going to sit idly by while MAGA Republicans lay the groundwork for a national abortion ban," Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison said in a statement.
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Jan. 6 Rally Reminds Public That 'Trump Is Disqualified' From Running for Office
"Secretaries of state now have a duty to uphold the Constitution and protect our democracy by ensuring Trump is barred from the ballot," one campaigner argued, pointing to the 14th Amendment.
Jan 06, 2023
Two years after supporters of former President Donald Trump's "Big Lie" stormed the U.S. Capitol, demonstrators gathered in Colorado on Friday to remind the American people—especially election officials—that "Trump is disqualified" from running for public office under Section 3 of the 14 Amendment to the Constitution.
Since January 6, 2021, some elected officials and advocacy groups have drawn attention to that section of the amendment, which bars from office anyone who has taken an oath to support the Constitution and then "engaged in insurrection or rebellion," to call for excluding Trump and some congressional Republicans from government.
"Trump's actions were a violation of his oath of office and therefore make him constitutionally ineligible for any future run for office."
"Insurrectionists do not belong in office," Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said Friday. "And they do not belong on the ballot going forward. Elected officials who directly aided and abetted the deadly assault on our nation's democracy on January 6 must be held accountable."
The groups Free Speech for People (FSFP) and Mi Familia Vota Education Fund have launched TrumpIsDisqualified.org, a campaign pressuring secretaries of state and other U.S. election officials to exclude supporters of the insurrection—particularly the twice-impeached former president—from any future ballots.
As part of the "Jan. 6th Justice: Our Freedoms, Our Votes" day of action on Friday, Mi Familia Vota held a rally in Denver demanding that Democratic Colorado Secretary of State Jenna Griswold use her power to keep Trump—who formally launched his current presidential campaign in November—off the ballot in 2024.
\u201c@FSFP & MFV are urging Secretaries of State and chief election officials across the country to follow the mandate of Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment and bar Trump from any future ballot. If we all come together, we\u2019ll grow our movement to protect our democracy \u270a\ud83c\udfff\u270a\ud83c\udffe\u270a\ud83c\udffd\u270a\ud83c\udffc\u201d— Mi Familia Vota (@Mi Familia Vota) 1673021292
" Donald Trump violated his oath of office when he led the charge to overturn the results of the 2020 election," declared Héctor Sánchez Barba, executive director and CEO of Mi Familia Vota, a national group that works to build Latino political power through civic participation.
"His actions only confirmed what the Latino community has long known: He is dangerous," Sanchez said of Trump. "The disqualification clause in the 14th Amendment is clear: Anyone who violates their oath of office is ineligible to run for higher office in the future."
"Secretaries of state have the power to bar Trump," he stressed. "There is ample evidence as to why he is not fit to hold office again, now all we are asking is for a secretary of state to act."
\u201cWe believe that Trump is constitutionally ineligible for any future run for office bc of his role in inciting, encouraging, & supporting the #Jan6 insurrection. If we all come together, we can grow our movement to protect our democracy. Sign our petition: https://t.co/61JKzYmle7\u201d— Mi Familia Vota (@Mi Familia Vota) 1673021292
Ahead of the "divided and disoriented" GOP's disastrous takeover of the U.S. House of Representatives this week, the Democratic-led select committee that investigated the Capitol insurrection last month unanimously referred Trump to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on four criminal charges.
"The bipartisan House January 6th committee showed that Trump engaged in a criminal conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election, culminating with his incitement of violent insurrection," FSFP campaign director Alexandra Flores-Quilty said Friday.
"The insurrectionist disqualification clause is clear: Trump's actions were a violation of his oath of office and therefore make him constitutionally ineligible for any future run for office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment," she added. "Secretaries of state now have a duty to uphold the Constitution and protect our democracy by ensuring Trump is barred from the ballot."
Even before the House select committee referrals, Trump faced DOJ investigations into his handling of classified documents and his role in the 2021 attack on the Capitol. After Trump announced his 2024 campaign, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Jack Smith, a longtime federal prosecutor, as a special counsel for those probes.
FSFP legal director Ron Fein, president John Bonifaz, and chairman and senior legal adviser Ben Clements, jointly argued Friday in a piece for Jurist that "Garland has done something quietly sneaky" with his appointment of Smith.
\u201cTrump must be held accountable for his insurrection crimes (& later theft of government documents). \n\n\ud835\uddd5\ud835\ude02\ud835\ude01 AG Garland's absolution of Trump\u2019s earlier crimes\u2014and unwillingness to even state openly that he was doing so, let alone explain why\u2014is a serious blow to the rule of law.\u201d— Ron Fein ... also ronfein@masto.ai (@Ron Fein ... also ronfein@masto.ai) 1673023170
"By announcing a special counsel appointment predicated on Trump's candidacy," the trio wrote, "then excluding from the special counsel's scope the 'shelf-ready' 'obstruction of justice crimes already identified by Special Counsel [Robert] Mueller and campaign finance crimes already identified by Manhattan prosecutors (in the Trump administration, no less), Garland is telling us between the lines that that he is giving up on all of Trump's pre-2020 crimes."
"Of course, Trump must be held accountable, in a timely fashion, for the crimes within the special counsel's scope," they added. "But Garland's absolution of Trump's earlier crimes—and unwillingness to even state openly, let alone provide a rationale, that he was doing so—is a serious blow to the once cherished principle that no one, not even the president, is above the law."
As for other political leaders who contributed to the Capitol attack, although the select committee last month referred Republican Congressmen Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Jim Jordan (Ohio), Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), and Scott Perry (R-Pa.) to the House Committee on Ethics for defying subpoenas, they are unlikely to face any consequences in a chamber narrowly controlled by the GOP, no matter who ultimately becomes speaker.
The House adjourned Friday afternoon after 13 failed speaker votes throughout the week—the most since before the U.S. Civil War—with plans to return at 10:00 pm ET. McCarthy just needs to flip two of the six Republicans who remain opposed to him—Biggs along with Reps. Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Eli Crane (Ariz.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Bob Good (Va.), and Matt Rosendale (Mont.)—to secure enough support to be elected to the leadership post.
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