The head of the German right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AfD), Alexander Gauland, has landed in hot water after calling the rule of Hitler and the National-Socialistic party a "piece of bird sh*t" on German history during a speech in front of the youth wing of the party.
"We have a glorious history and it, my dear friends, lasts longer than those goddamn twelve years," Gauland said.
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However, the statement didn't find broad support, with general secretary of the governing CDU party Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer slamming it as an insult to the "50 million who died as a result of war and the Holocaust" on her Twitter. Several users supported her, saying that right-wing "extremist" parties should be banned in Germany.
"When will you finally impose a ban on AfD? When will this right-wing extremist party be no longer being protected by the Constitution? Do something!" a user named Faktenfreund wrote.
"Once again I'm shocked by the statements of Mr. Gauland," another one wrote.
Although others stood up to support Gauland, claiming that his words were poorly interpreted.
"Have you seen his whole speech? He despises these 12 years and so on… But 12 years can only be a bird's sh*t compared to 988 years…." The user, named christian eifert said.
"Well, it's clear that you twisted his words," a user named Tschaka wrote.
This is not the first time that Gauland stirs controversy. In one of his previous speeches he expressed surprise at the fact that UK citizens can be proud of what Churchill did, but the Germans can't be proud of their soldiers' achievements during the two world wars.