Vice President Vance met Friday with a leader of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, making him the highest-ranking U.S. official to do so.
The vice president met with Alice Weidel, head of AfD, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, an official with Vance’s office said. Vance met with all leaders of major German political parties during his week in Europe, the official said.
Vance also met Friday with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier of the Social Democratic Party of Germany and Friedrich Merz of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany. He met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz earlier in the week in Paris.
The meetings took place ahead of Germany’s national elections, which are scheduled for Feb. 23.
Vance spoke to the head of AfD on the heels of his speech in Munich in which he accused European leaders of censoring free speech and admonished them for marginalizing populist parties.
“To many of us on the other side of the Atlantic, it looks more and more like old, entrenched interests hiding behind Soviet-era words like ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation’ who simply don’t like the idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion or, God forbid, vote a different way or, even worse, win an election,” Vance said.
Elon Musk, the tech billionaire and top adviser to President Trump, has drawn backlash for his support of AfD.
Musk last month appeared virtually at a rally for AfD and urged attendees not to be ashamed of their country’s history. The German government has accused Musk of meddling in the country’s elections.
Musk previously penned an op-ed expressing support for AfD, which Vance later shared on social media. Vance said at the time he was not endorsing the party.
