Interference by Trump administration officials in the German campaign put off some left-leaning voters but was welcomed by others supporting the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, according to a smattering of interviews at polling stations.
Several voters in the eastern city of Dresden took note of a speech by Vice President JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference this month, when he told European leaders to stop shunning parties deemed “extreme.”
Chris Buschmann, who said he is left-leaning but declined to say how he voted, said hearing Mr. Vance made him “anxious.” Mr. Buschmann, 27, said he is worried about the rise of right-wing populism both in Germany and around the world. He worries, he said, about “history repeating itself,” referring to Germany’s Nazi past.
Tim Adams, an engineer who split his ticket between the Green Party and Die Linke, the German left party, criticized billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk’s attempts to influence the German election. Mr. Musk has endorsed the AfD and praised the party’s co-chair, Alice Weidel. Last month, he spoke at an AfD rally, telling the audience that Germany has “too much of a focus on past guilt.”
Those interventions have been “very bad for our politics,” Mr. Adams said.
Others voiced support for President Trump and his administration. Andreas MĂĽhlbach and Anja Zeumer, both of whom voted for the AfD, said they welcomed the new American president.
In Aschaffenburg, retired painter Peter Kraus said he voted for the AfD “with great joy” — and on the recommendation of Mr. Vance and Mr. Musk.
“When the American vice president says it, and Elon Musk, yeah, they have exactly my opinion,” Mr. Kraus said. “And I’m not as well-educated as those two.”
