AfD-Sommerinterviews: Alice Weidel: „Die CDU wird keine einzige Bundestagswahl mehr gewinnen“

Alice Weidel, the leader of the AfD, appeared in a sunny terrace overlooking the rooftops of Vienna for a ZDF Summer interview. She credits her tips to the right-wing populist FPÖ, the sister party. Unlike the AfD, the FPÖ is already governing in five Austrian federal states. Weidel plans to do the same, stating, "We will govern in Saxony-Anhalt," she said in the ZDF interview.

Her co-partys chair, Tino Chrupalla, also agreed to be interviewed on Sunday, contrasting with her friend, as he conducts his discussion in Berlin. At the ARD capital studio, Chrupalla sits casually in his chair, hands clasped in his lap, with a flag-reversing pin attached to his jacket. "I have already announced years ago that this would happen," he said confidently, referring to an AfD victory in Saxony-Anhalt.

They aim for an absolute majority, with the AfD currently at 43 percent in surveys. The election on September 6 may bring a record result for the land party, which is classified as right-extreme by the Constitutional Court. Even the absolute majority is possible. AfD chief candidate Ulrich Siegmund is already planning a sole government and ruling out compromises.

They want no concessions. Chrupalla appears less confrontational on Sunday: "We will reach out to all parties and want to talk to all," he said, criticizing the "deep division" in Germany. Ultimately, it is their goal to avoid coalition negotiations – "games" – and secure the necessary majority themselves, Chrupalla said. An AfD alone government depends not only on their own votes but also on the seat distribution in the Landtag.

Depending on how many parties cross the Five-percent threshold and enter the Landtag, the seat distribution might lead to an AfD mandate majority – even without an absolute vote. Before the election Sunday, Siegmund distrusts the legitimacy of mail-in voting in his federal state. In a video post on X, he warned on mid-August of election manipulation in care homes in his federal state and gains support from Chrupalla, who wants to abolish mail-in voting.

He himself has not experienced it, but he considers cases of fraud in such institutions "uncontested." Weidel also stated, "We will quit Schengen to stop such people like from Ceuta from coming to us," without specifying how she envisions her stringent return policy. Not only the Schengen area, but also the euro, Weidel wants to get rid of, effectively calling for a Dexit, a national exit from the EU.