Party in need of explanation After the Hitler dictum, the AfD desperately wants to know who this man is
Alexander Eichwald's bizarre Hitler-like style continues to preoccupy the AfD. Following his appearance in Giessen, several levels of the party are now considering expelling him - and references to a possible artificial figure from earlier years are appearing online. Eichwald firmly denies this.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- After his bizarre appearance at the founding of the AfD youth organization, Alexander Eichwald is coming under massive internal pressure - the Herford district association is calling on him to resign immediately.
- Party leader Tino Chrupalla and the new youth leadership are openly considering expelling him from the party. The newly elected GD leader Jean-Pascal Hohm also speaks of an "unacceptable performance".
- Images are circulating on social media that link Eichwald to a former fictional character called "Alex Oak".
Two days after the AfD Youth Congress, the case of Alexander Eichwald is causing ever greater confusion - and an increasingly defensive party. While the leadership only announced an "investigation" at the weekend, the tone is now becoming much sharper.
Jean-Pascal Hohm, newly elected chairman of the new youth organization "Generation Deutschland", told dpa that anyone who acts like this has "no place in the AfD - whether provocateur, V-man or simply crazy". In future, it would be necessary to take a closer look at who is accepted.
The Herford district association has also distanced itself in the meantime. In a statement, the executive committee called on Eichwald to resign immediately and announced that it would also prepare expulsion proceedings.
According toDeutschlandfunkradio, Eichwald once again confirmed that his speech was meant seriously. The fact that he seemed over-excited was due to the fact that he had to shorten his prepared speech from ten to five minutes at short notice. He again explained his conspicuous rolling of the "R" with his background as a Russian-German.
Rumors about former fictional character - Eichwald denies
What is new is the information circulating on social networks: Users are posting pictures that are said to link Eichwald to a fictional character called "Alex Oak", according to the German newspaper "Tagesschau" - apparently a former online character whose traces have since been largely erased.
Eichwald himself expressly denies this account. His speech and his candidacy were meant seriously.
However, AfD leader Tino Chrupalla is sticking to his line: Eichwald's content and appearance are not compatible with the party's principles, which is why his membership will be reviewed, he said on Sunday evening. What is explosive is that Eichwald only joined the NRW state association at the beginning of October and applied for a position on the GD board just weeks later.
It is still unclear whether Eichwald was deliberately provocative - or whether the bizarre appearance was authentic. In Giessen, he was asked, amid loud heckling, whether he was an informant for the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. The speech was delivered without effects, but with clear far-right slogans and Hitler-like rhetoric.
