New York Young Republican Club to host far-right Alternative for Germany politician Markus Frohnmaier two months after antisemitic group chat report

The New York Young Republican Club will host a far-right German politician at its annual gala two months after the organization’s statewide chapter was suspended following a report detailing antisemitic remarks in a group chat that included its leaders.

Markus Frohnmaier, a leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, will be an "honored guest" at the Manhattan-based New York Young Republican Club’s 113th annual gala at the Cipriani Wall Street event space on Dec. 13, according to the group’s website.

The gala will occur nearly two months after a Politico report that revealed seven months worth of exchanges between leaders of the New York State Young Republicans, a separate group, and those of similar organizations in Arizona, Kansas and Vermont. Their Telegram Messenger group chat was riddled with antisemitic, homophobic and racist statements, including references to gas chambers and the phrase "I love Hitler," according to the report.

In May, the German government’s domestic intelligence agency designated the AfG party a "proven right-wing extremist organization" working against the democratic system of governance. After a legal challenge, it suspended the designation.

In August, the New York Young Republican Club issued a statement supporting the AfG party, calling it a bulwark against the German government’s "sinister regime of censorship and repression."

"Germany needs a party that puts Germany First, insists on a policy of remigration, and creates a New Civic Order from the ashes of liberalism," the statement said.

The Young Republican statement also included the phrase "AfD über alles," similar to the phrase "Deutschland über alles," a phrase co-opted in Nazi propaganda, according to Politico.

Three days after the Politico report about the group chat, New York GOP committee leaders voted unanimously to disband the New York State Young Republicans. The statewide chapter can reform at a later date.

In a statement issued to Newsday, the New York Young Republican Club said the phrase “AfD über alles” is “being sensationalized” and “predates the Nazi era by decades."

The statement continued: “...these dishonest attempts by the media to brand everyone right of center as “Nazis” is precisely what created the cultural climate that killed Charlie Kirk.”

Frohnmaier did not respond to Newsday's request for comment.

In a statement issued to Politico, the New York Young Republican Club said that "celebrating" Frohnmaier "and his party’s success against German leftism is entirely appropriate."

In his own statement to Politico, Frohnmaier said "I categorically reject the claim that we use antisemitic or xenophobic rhetoric" and "I strongly condemn all forms of antisemitism."

With AP