The best polls put the far-right Alternative for Germany at less than 15 per cent of the vote one week before European elections.
But with their relentless Facebook messages, tweets and other social media posts, they're dominating the other parties online.
Trump's nontraditional strategy has proven a model for many populist parties in Europe. Italy's Matteo Salvini streams videos of his appearances on Facebook and debates issues on Twitter; Marine Le Pen in France has 2.2 million Twitter followers and her party created a unit devoted to social media campaigning for France's 2017 presidential election, in which she made it to the runoff.
With a photo of a toddler sporting a crudely photoshopped thick black beard, the Berlin AfD tweeted "Mohammed is now the most popular name," and asked, "Berlin: Islamization is not happening?" That post was eventually taken down but not before it sparked wide-ranging uproar and discussion. In an interview with the AP earlier this month, AfD co-leader Alice Weidel downplayed the poll figures, noting that mainstream pundits had underestimated Trump's chances of winning right up to election day.
They've also got a so-called "rapid response team" of around 4,000 online-savvy supporters who can be activated to "jump into the debates and discredit false statements" when the party is attacked by others on social media, the press office of the Green Party told the AP. The AfD's national press office said that "social media are important for us, however, their influence on the elections is not measurable." The party did not want to share further details on its election strategy, but a spokesman for the AfD's Berlin branch, Ronald Glaeser, said using social media was the best way for the party to bypass traditional media.
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