Germany's far-right AfD tells lawmaker to delete Islamophobic post
A lawmaker of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) was told by the party's leadership to delete a "completely unacceptable" Islamophobic post, a spokesman confirmed on Wednesday.
Nicole Höchst, who leads the AfD's religious policy working group in the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, posted an image on social media platform X depicting two men in traditional Arabic clothing standing next to a trailer on the edge of a field.
The image was captioned: "To all Muslims in Germany: Whatever you eat... It's fertilised with pig shit..." in an apparent reference to the Muslim ban on eating pork.
The post also included a photo of the lawmaker and the words "Nicole Höchst, Member of the Bundestag."
Following instructions by AfD party leaders Timo Chrupalla and Alice Weidel, Höchst deleted the post on Tuesday afternoon, according to the spokesman.
"The post is completely unacceptable and was deleted upon request by the parliamentary group leaders," he told Germany's Bild tabloid.
Höchst has so far not responded to requests for comment, but her office said a statement would be published on Wednesday.
The anti-Islam AfD is the strongest opposition force in parliament after coming second in February's elections.
The party has campaigned for a strict crackdown on migration and is being monitored as a suspected far-right extremist group by domestic intelligence.
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