The party leaders Weidel and Chrupalla are considered to be at risk, no question about it. But in two possible security incidents, the party is now spreading hysteria instead of waiting for clarification.
Politics is an emotional business, and where strong emotions are involved, violence is unfortunately not far away. German history is full of examples of the disastrous interplay between politics and violence. The Weimar Republic was born in violence; in the end, democracy had no chance against the brutal anarchy of left and right – and against the violence of language and rumors that accompanied all the murder and brawls. Paul A. Weber’s lithograph “The Rumor”, created in 1943, shows this hysterical force in the form of a snake creature that, flying through a high-rise canyon, infects the crowds with its rumor poison.