Vox Sentences - Ron's gone — now what?

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UP FIRST: Ron DeSantis is out of the Republican primary

CATCH UP: Germany’s protests against the far right

–Ellen Ioanes, reporter

And then there were two...

Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis finally dropped out of the Republican primary on Sunday afternoon, leaving frontrunner Donald Trump and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley to vie for the Republican nomination (though realistically, Trump will be the nominee).

It’s easy to forget that some saw DeSantis as a real threat to Trump’s seeming hegemony within the GOP. The draconian populist policies he’s instituted in Florida — like the “don’t say gay” bill, for example — were popular with right-wing donors. But promises to implement his statewide policies across the nation weren’t enough to give primary voters a compelling reason to vote for DeSantis instead of Trump. 

So in a video on X Sunday, DeSantis announced his departure, just days after the Iowa caucuses, and said he would endorse Trump for president. DeSantis narrowly got second in the Iowa caucus, just beating out Haley by 2 percent.

With other visible candidates — Chris Christie, Vivek Ramaswamy — dropping out earlier in the month, Haley will now face Trump in New Hampshire tomorrow, hoping that state will give her a surprise victory and her campaign a necessary boost. But Trump is beating Haley by 11 percent going into the vote — making a Haley victory in New Hampshire a long shot.

Trump, meanwhile, has been discussing his policy positions on the trail, and they paint a grim picture for a second Trump presidency:

• Abortion. Trump has bragged about overturning Roe v. Wade, but hasn’t thus far supported a nationwide ban. But the Biden campaign hasn’t let that stop its claims that a vote for Trump essentially assures such a ban. 

• Immigration. Trump has promised sweeping travel bans targeting specific nations similar to his 2017 ban, as well as a ban on Marxists, communists, and socialists traveling to the US. He has also advocated mass deportations and an end to citizenship by birth.

• Economics. Trump has proposed additional tariffs on goods coming in from China, as well as a general 10 percent import tariff. He also wants another tax cut for corporations.

• Health care. Trump has promised to do away with the Affordable Care Act, though he failed to do so during his 2016 term and has never presented an alternative plan.

Germany takes on the AfD

Hami Roshan/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Hundreds of thousands of Germans are protesting the Alternativ fûr Deutschland (AfD) party, a far-right political party that’s been gaining popularity over the past decade, after an investigative report by the German outlet Correctiv revealed that AfD members and supporters discussed a sweeping deportation plan with neo-Nazis.

Ahead of a second weekend of protests, Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned the country in a video address Friday: "I say it clearly and bluntly: Right-wing extremists are attacking our democracy.” 

Scholz and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerböck attended the first round of protests that came after the article’s release in mid-January. And the chancellor has spoken in favor of new, relaxed naturalization laws passed by the German parliament, which shorten the period people must wait to obtain citizenship from eight years to five.

The AfD started out in the early 2010s as a Euroskeptic party, but over the years has morphed into an extremist party with an increasing hold on the German public in certain parts of the country. Though they are not part of the government, their popularity has soared in recent federal elections. Now they speak out against minorities like LGBTQ people and immigrants, stoking fear about their German culture being destroyed.

The deportation plan, which AfD officials have distanced themselves from somewhat, includes a proposal to deport even German citizens of different national origins if they’re not sufficiently “assimilated,” according to the Correctiv report. 

The AfD and some affiliated groups are already under surveillance by German security services because of their extremist ideology; now, there’s a growing call to ban the party, which some officials are considering. But efforts to shut the party down could backfire, increasing the AfD’s popularity and the perception that mainstream parties are acting against it for their own gain. 

The protests were a reminder that though the AfD’s popularity has grown, there are also many Germans who don’t support the group. The next real test of the party’s grip on the country will come this summer, when the AfD will run in the European Parliament elections, as well as in elections in many of Germany’s states.

• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi consecrated a Hindu temple on the site of the former Babri Masjid mosque, which was attacked by Hindu nationalists in 1992, setting off a wave of sectarian violence that killed 2,000. [CNN]
• The Biden administration unveiled new abortion and contraception protections as part of its 2024 election strategy. The new steps include clearer directives on abortion for emergency room providers and for insurers on covering contraception. [New York Times]
• The Taliban is restricting Afghan women’s movement to access health care, or to work or travel if they’re single or don’t have a male guardian. [AP]

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