Germany's 'Trump country:' Why small towns abandoned mainstream parties for far right
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- Written by Petra Sorge
DORFCHEMNITZ, Germany — Retired farmer Gerd Mazanec normally votes for one of Germany's mainstream parties. But in last Sunday's parliamentary elections, he cast his ballot for the far-right Alternative For Germany (AfD).Mazanec's complaint: Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling Christian Democrats and its government partners in Berlin aren't looking out for pensioners like him. Paying more than $3 for a beer on a pension of just $800 a month "simply does not work,” groused Maznec, 62.
