The far right’s flirtation with neo-Nazis

Two mid-summer events that slipped under the radar confirm larger global trends threatening democratic norms.

The first was in Germany, where the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party won two local elections. The Soufan Center, an independent group that monitors global security challenges, reported that “Although both posts may not hold significant national political weight — one being a district administrator seat comparable to the mayorship of a mid-sized town, the other a mayoral post in a small town — the victories have resonated throughout the country and are indicative of the party’s resurgent strength in Germany.”

AfD has consistently stoked nationalist sentiments, perpetuated xenophobia and flirted with the most dangerous fringes of Nazi-era extremist ideology. It has embraced an alarming revisionist attitude toward Germany’s dark past. The party is reportedly under surveillance by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Its youth wing, Young Alternative, has been classified as an extremist group. In December, a former AfD lawmaker and judge was arrested as part of an alleged plot to overthrow the German government.

Why do two seemingly inconsequential local elections of a fringe element in Germany matter? Soufan notes recent polls projecting that if German elections were held today, AfD would claim 20 percent of the vote, equal to that of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s center-left Social Democratic Party. Last week, the Economist reported that nationally the AfD is six points behind the right-of-center Christian Democrats, but first in the former East Germany.

When neo-Nazi ideology seems on the rise and western liberalism wanes in Germany, the whole world should pay attention.

The second event, almost unnoticed, occurred closer to home. On July 2, North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson addressed the backlash faced by a chapter of the conservative parents’ group Moms for Liberty that quoted Adolf Hitler in a pamphlet. They apologized for the quote, but instead of supporting the apology, Robinson condemned the condemnation.

His desperation for the adoration of the far right led him to suggest, clumsily, that the use of a quote by Hitler in a promotional pamphlet was no different than reading Hitler’s quotes in a history book. At best, his statement was bungling, offensive and pandered to the worst impulses of the far right. At worst, it was a continued pattern in the far right’s weird new tactic of normalizing elements of Hitler’s fanaticism, including Candace Owens’s 2019 statement that “If Hitler just wanted to make Germany great and have things run well — OK, fine.” (Note to elected officials and commentators: it’s never a good idea to leave people confused as to which side of the Hitler debate you’re on. Call me overcautious, but talking points that border on “as Hitler once said” are going to be, well, poorly received by normal people.)

Worse than Robinson’s intellectually bereft argument was the sound of crickets from the right in response. When someone on the left whispers an insensitive or offensive comment, the right demands instant, thunderous repudiation by Democrats. But a GOP state elected official’s disturbing comments defending the use of Hitler quotes in a Mom’s for Liberty pamphlet? Little to no moral outrage from the GOP. A roll of the eyes, a shrug of the shoulders, a willful ignorance, as in “ignore.” (By the way, this isn’t Robinson’s first foray into borderline anti-Semitic invective. The newsletter Jewish Insider reports that Robinson has a history of invoking antisemitic stereotypes and flirting with Holocaust denialism.)

In contrast, when Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said last weekend that Israel is a racist country, the House Democratic leadership issued a quick rebuke. Several influential Democrats — including Reps. Josh Gottheimer, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Greg Landsman, Jared Moskowitz, Brad Schneider, Kathy Manning and Dean Phillips — circulated a statement criticizing Jayapal’s comments.

The irony of course is the group at the center of the Hitler controversy: Moms for Liberty. Nothing says liberty more than a group that advocates government telling you what you can and can’t read, the banning of certain books, the removal of certain flags, the prohibiting of certain words in certain classrooms. And the moms? Throwbacks to “Mommie Dearest,” the chilling 1981 biopic of Joan Crawford’s abusive treatment of her daughter. Only instead of demanding “no more wire hangers” in a closet, these moms demand no more “I Am Billy Jean King” in a middle school library.

We’re in a new world, where neo-Nazis win local elections in Germany, and a statewide elected official has come not to condemn Hitler but to praise those who quote him. I’m not Chicken Little squawking that the sky is falling, but there were ominous clouds in July, sneaking right past us.

Steve Israel represented New York in the U.S. House of Representatives over eight terms and was chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee from 2011 to 2015. He is now director of the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy Institute of Politics and Global Affairs. Follow him on Twitter @RepSteveIsrael.