AfD leader Chrupalla: "Alice Weidel would be a very good candidate for chancellor"
AfD Leader Tino Chrupalla expressed positivity towards his co-leader Alice Weidel's potential candidacy for Chancellor. "Alice Weidel would be a good Chancellor candidate, which I would also support," Chrupalla stated during the ARD Summer Interview broadcast on Sunday. He added, "You can assume that there is no power struggle or dispute." However, Chrupalla emphasized that he did not want to make any decisions prematurely. "Ultimately, it will be decided by a party congress or the base in our party."
At the AfD party congress in Essen over the past weekend, Chrupalla was reconfirmed in his position with 82.7% of the delegate votes, which was surprisingly strong. Weidel received 79.8% of the votes in her re-election. She received eight fewer votes than Chrupalla. Both emphasized during the party congress that the results were not a decision regarding the Chancellor candidacy. A decision on this matter will be made at a party congress in March 2025.
In the Sunday ZDF Summer Interview, Weidel stated, "I can imagine many candidates," without naming any. "That's still not decided," Weidel said.
According to surveys, the AfD currently stands at 15-19% nationwide and significantly behind the Union. Most survey institutes currently see the AfD ahead of the current ruling party, the SPD.
- Despite Tino Chrupalla's endorsement of Alice Weidel as a Candidate for Chancellor, the power struggle within the AfD, led by Chrupalla and Weidel, remains uncertain, as Chrupalla mentioned that the final decision will be made at a party congress or by the party base.
- The AfD leader, Tino Chrupalla, commended his co-leader Alice Weidel's potential as a Candidate for Chancellor, but it's important to note that Weidel herself has not explicitly declared her interest in the position, stating during the ZDF Summer Interview that "that's still not decided."
- The party congress in Essen saw both Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla receive high vote counts, with Weidel coming just eight votes short of Chrupalla, but their positions as leaders do not automatically translate into either being the designated Candidate for Chancellor from the AfD, as Forestalls this decision for the March 2025 party congress.
