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🇦🇹 Austria /Elections & Politics

An afternoon with the “German people’s” YouTubers

From Die Presse · () German

Translated from German and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Right-wing streamers are closely documenting AfD campaign events in Saxony-Anhalt and treating the party’s supporters as their online community.
  • Streamer Matthäus Westfal broadcast live for four hours and 28 minutes from an AfD event in Haldensleben.
  • Westfal previously confronted Spiegel journalists, calling them insults and telling them they had nothing to do with the German people; AfD candidate Ulrich Siegmund has also appeared in his interviews.

At an AfD campaign event in Haldensleben, Matthäus Westfal set up an electronically controlled selfie stick, mounted his smartphone, picked up a microphone and began broadcasting. He stayed live for four hours and 28 minutes, making the entire event available on YouTube.

Westfal, known online as “Aktivist Mann,” is part of a growing scene of streamers who film AfD rallies for hours and speak with participants in a notably familiar way. Their community comes from the AfD’s own environment. Supporters who were once considered reluctant to appear on camera are now being recorded continuously and placed online with little filtering.

The setting was a “family festival” in Haldensleben, a town of 20,000 people north of Magdeburg, where AfD lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund was due to appear. An Austrian visitor at the event wore a shirt showing Siegmund and a badge featuring Austrian right-wing leader Herbert Kickl. He refused to speak with Die Presse, calling it “Lückenpresse,” or biased press, and said the newspaper was doomed.

You have nothing to do with the German people! You are anti-Germans, get out!

· Matthäus WestfalHe shouted at a Spiegel crew during an AfD campaign event.

Westfal was more welcoming toward an Austrian television crew. He praised ServusTV for programs he said had opposed coronavirus measures and vaccination during the pandemic. His relationship with other journalists is far more hostile. During the Saxony-Anhalt campaign, he followed a Spiegel crew at an AfD “people’s festival.” After a reporter tried to pass him and touched his arm, Westfal bumped him with his shoulder and shouted insults including “far-left extremist rag” and “tick newspaper.” He also yelled, “You have nothing to do with the German people! You are anti-Germans, get out!”

The incident, broadcast live, reportedly even upset the AfD. German television journalists repeatedly complain that activists with disruptive behavior receive interviews more often than they do. Siegmund himself has interviewed with Westfal and praised him on a podcast.

ServusTV, oh, I like them, they are great.

· Matthäus WestfalHe reacted positively after seeing a journalist from the Austrian broadcaster at the Haldensleben event.
About this summary

Originally published by Die Presse in German. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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