As the anti-immigrant AfD struggles to shake off accusations of Nazi sympathy, the family history of Alice Weidel has also come under the spotlight — specifically her late grandfather, who was a prominent military judge under the Nazi regime.
Current German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a federal election after the collapse of his three-party coalition in November, which included the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens and the economically liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP).
Polling at about 18 percent, AfD is the second-most-popular party in Germany after the conservative bloc (CDU/CSU), which is currently polling at 32 percent.
It’s the first time in the nearly 12 years of the party’s existence that the AfD puts forward a chancellor candidate.
