AfD party’s success among young German voters – DW – 06/10/2024

The German party Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is monitored by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution on suspicion of being far-right, has gained points in almost all age groups and sectors of the German population in the European elections of 9 June, but especially among young people.

16 percent of people between 16 and 24 years old voted for the AfD, putting the party roughly on the same level as the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party and its Bavarian partner, the Christian Social Union (CSU).

While the AfD party is far from the favorite of most young voters, the vote increase is remarkable. In the 2019 European elections, the Alternative for Germany, which is considered an extreme right-wing party, only managed to reach five percent of the youth vote. In 2024, this percentage has more than tripled.

However, at first, the AfD itself was skeptical about the prospect of lowering the voting age to 16, seeing young voters as a threat rather than an opportunity to achieve good results. Indeed, in 2018 the AfD sued the state of Thuringia for lowering the voting age to 16. The party complained that the ruling Left, Social Democrats and Greens only wanted to secure their power by lowering the age from 18 to 16, because young people were left-wing. That suit was dismissed.

AFD, party on TikTok

Since then, the AfD has tried like no other German party to win the youth vote. And it succeeded. With campaigns aimed at this on TikTok, Instagram and other platforms, the AfD has tried to reach this age group. The messages are emotional, clear and direct: “Believe in yourself”, “Look forward”, “Don’t watch porn”, “Defend your opinion”.

Maximilian Krah, the controversial AfD main candidate for the European elections, tries to win over young voters on TikTok in this way. Krah links his messages to simplistic political positions such as: “Real men are right-wing.” Maximilian Krah, however, sounds like this Anti-influencers With his sober suits and pocket squares, he has gained massive success. In his videos, he combines obvious punchlines with humor and eventually, his strategy reaches an audience of millions.

But Maximilian Kraah is much more than just an influential politician on TikTok: he has been involved in major scandals and is suspected of receiving funding from Russian propaganda channels and employing a Chinese spy. And, shortly before the European elections, he compared the crimes against humanity committed by the SS during World War II, an organization that was responsible like no other example for systematic murders against Jews during the Nazi regime (1933-1945). Outrage at Kraah’s relativization came from all over Europe, even from friendly far-right parties.

For this reason, AfD leaders withdrew Maximilian Krah as a candidate for the European elections. This probably cost the party some votes. But, judging by the sharp increase in votes compared to the last European elections four years ago, the incident does not seem to have affected the party. It seems that young people are not interested in these scandals, or perhaps they do not know about them.

Democrats without a strategy

Germany’s democratic parties have so far offered little resistance to the AfD and its social media strategy. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attempted to attract young people with his cluttered portfolio on his recently launched TikTok channel. But the truth is that the AfD reaches as many young people in Germany as all the other parties combined: the CDU, the CSU, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens, the Liberal Democratic Party (FDP), and the Left.

There is likely also a solid reason for the strong increase in the youth vote for the AfD party: Five years ago, the biggest concern of young people was human-caused climate change and its consequences. In 2024 that issue has moved back. According to a current study by the Bertelsmann Foundation, young people in Europe are primarily concerned about peace on the old continent. “Ensuring peace”: this is the most important task for the majority of people aged 16 to 25. In recent months, in fact, the AfD has tried to present itself as a “party of peace”. And, of course, it has succeeded among young people.

(CP/MS)