The leading candidate, Friedrich Merz, a conservative who has adopted many of the AfD’s hard-line positions on immigration, used his closing statement of the debate to promise his voters that he would never allow the AfD into his government. Under him, he said, the firewall would hold.

The AfD’s rise remains a significant concern in German politics, with mainstream parties working to prevent its integration into government. While figures like JD Vance and Elon Musk have expressed strong support for the party,

Germans go to the polls Sunday. Chancellor Scholz's Social Democrats are likely to lose to the conservative CDU party, as the right-wing Alternative for Germany party is likely to make gains.

Musk won AfD a massive new audience, and JD Vance added support. That brought the party outsized attention, but the impact in Germany was limited, data shows.

Elon Musk wants the far right AfD to win the German election - here’s how he became their champion - Germany’s leading political figures say Musk will face consequences for his endorsement of the country’s far-right party,