f{"id":50058,"date":"2026-09-08T12:17:49","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T19:17:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=50058"},"modified":"2026-09-08T12:17:49","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T19:17:49","slug":"first-thing-german-far-right-leader-thanks-elon-musk-after-landmark-election-win-praised-by-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/09\/08\/first-thing-german-far-right-leader-thanks-elon-musk-after-landmark-election-win-praised-by-russia\/","title":{"rendered":"First Thing: German far-right leader thanks Elon Musk after landmark election win praised by Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Populist, far-right, anti-immigration AfD wins vote in eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. Plus, 50 years since The Muppet Show first hit our screens<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/info\/2018\/sep\/17\/guardian-us-morning-briefing-sign-up-to-stay-informed\"><strong>Don\u2019t already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up here<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/profile\/martin-belam\">Martin Belam<\/a> Mon 7 Sep 2026 (TheGuardian.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=theguardian.com\">Prefer the Guardian on Google<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=theguardian.com\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Good morning. A far-right leader who has won an important state election in Germany has&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2026\/sep\/07\/afd-thanks-elon-musk-german-state-elections-2026-win\">thanked Elon Musk for his support<\/a>, as voices in Europe warn the result is a serious moment for the continent. No far-right party has led or formed a government in Germany since the defeat of nazism at the end of the second world war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ulrich Siegmund, the Alternative f\u00fcr Deutschland\u2019s lead candidate, thanked Musk on X after the tech billionaire said \u201cWell done!\u201d in German to the AfD co-founder Alice Weidel. The populist, far-right, anti-immigration party won the vote in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During its campaign, the AfD sought to capitalise on a mood of nostalgia for the communist East Germany and discontent among east Germans. The party has promised a remigration and deportation offensive, to ban rainbow flags in schools and halt the building of new windfarms. It wants to change the slogan of the state from \u201cThink Modern\u201d to \u201cThink German\u201d, and reintroduce the singing of the country\u2019s national anthem in schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Will the AfD be able to form a state government?<\/strong>\u00a0Despite its resounding victory, the party fell just short of a majority. It was seeking an absolute majority in the state legislature to govern alone and overcome the so-called \u201cfirewall\u201d of the mainstream parties, which refuse to work with it. The final results showed the AfD falling three seats short, with 39 lawmakers in an 83-member legislature.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>What has been the reaction in Washington and Moscow?<\/strong>\u00a0Donald Trump posted a screenshot of the election projection without comment on his Truth Social site. The Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev took a screengrab of Trump\u2019s post and praised a \u201chistoric win for the pragmatic AfD\u201d. The AfD is pro-Kremlin, urging a stop to support for Ukraine and pushing for Ukrainians in Germany to no longer receive refugee status.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Populist, far-right, anti-immigration AfD wins vote in eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. Plus, 50 years since The Muppet Show first hit our screens Martin Belam Mon 7 Sep 2026 (TheGuardian.com) Prefer the Guardian on Google Good morning. A far-right leader who has won an important state election in Germany has&nbsp;thanked Elon&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/09\/08\/first-thing-german-far-right-leader-thanks-elon-musk-after-landmark-election-win-praised-by-russia\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1880],"tags":[890],"class_list":["post-50058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international-politics","tag-elon-musk"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>First Thing: German far-right leader thanks Elon Musk after landmark election win praised by Russia -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/09\/08\/first-thing-german-far-right-leader-thanks-elon-musk-after-landmark-election-win-praised-by-russia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"First Thing: German far-right leader thanks Elon Musk after landmark election win praised by Russia -\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Populist, far-right, anti-immigration AfD wins vote in eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. 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