Alice Weidel is not exactly what one would expect from a leader of the far-right party Alternative for Germany. It would be hard to find a more atypical figure for a role like the one she holds. Who is Alice Weidel, Elon Musk’s favorite?
She is gay, with a partner from Sri Lanka, and does not permanently reside in the country. Instead, she divides her time between Berlin and Switzerland, with her partner and their two sons. Furthermore, she is a West German leading the AfD, a party that has always been and remains much stronger in East Germany, notes Sky News.
In a party that is often accused of providing refuge to extremists, she appears more rational and less obsessive. Alice Weidel, it is said, is the key for AfD to reach Germans in three crucial areas - the middle class, those without a clear political option, and residents in the western part of the country.
But it would be wrong to consider her moderate. Although she joined AfD for its economic policies, she enthusiastically supported the party's decision to focus more on migration and German nationalism.
Immigrants, she once said, are made up of "burqa wearers, girls with headscarves, men with knives, who benefit from government benefits, and other good-for-nothing people." It was a statement that drew censorship from rivals in the center and respect from those on the right, who view migration as a national threat.
As a speaker, she is strident, radical, and unapologetic. She describes herself as a "liberal conservative," but at the party conference earlier this year, she called for "large-scale repatriation of foreigners" - a policy once considered toxic, but which she now described in syllables - "re-mi-gra-tion," Weidel insisted, openly on stage.
Alice Weidel, a gay parent, supported the definition of family as specifically consisting of mother, father, and children. She says that legalizing gay marriage is not important.
At the same time, Weidel argued that Germany is the true victim of the war in Ukraine, due to the economic damages it has and will suffer. The war, she said, "is not our problem at all," and she maintains that when it ends, Ukraine should be held accountable.
Alice Weidel was born in Gutersloh, a city of about 100,000 inhabitants, located halfway between Dortmund and Hanover, where she said she was repeatedly insulted and abused by Middle Eastern immigrants.
She studied in East Germany, in Bayreuth, then worked for Goldman Sachs and Bank of China, spending six years in China.
She advocates for economic liberalism, citing Margaret Thatcher as a role model and supporting, for example, low taxes and the abolition of inheritance tax. She recently contradicted herself when she said that it is no longer practical for Germany to give up the euro, but her euroscepticism remains.
Her country's past and her own family overshadow her role as AfD leader. Her grandfather, Hans Weidel, was a Nazi judge appointed by Adolf Hitler, something she claims she did not know.
During a live dialogue with Elon Musk, with millions of online views, she argued that the Nazis "are not on the right" and said that Hitler was "a communist, a socialist." In fact, Hitler detested communists and socialists, and they were among the first people sent to concentration camps.
She has questioned the purpose of Covid vaccines, challenged evidence of global warming, and perpetuated the "great replacement" theory promoted by conspiracy theory adherents.
For some, Alice Weidel is a dangerous presence, even ominous. For others, she is a refreshing and radical change.