Dr. Rainer Rothfuss, a member of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag), and elected representative of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, planned to attend Trump’s inauguration with a small delegation, which included an AfD Member of the European Parliament and the editor of a conservative paper. The editor was told last week that he had been denied admission to the U.S., based on a file sent by the German Interior Ministry to the U.S. State Department, identifying him as “an extremist” who pushed “Putin propaganda.”
Dr. Rothfuss, who applied a week ago for an ESTA visa, found out today, when he was preparing to check in for his flight, that his request had been denied, with no explanation given. The intention of the delegation was to show friendship to the U.S. and support for the new President. Denying entry to the U.S. to an elected member of Parliament from a nation allied to the U.S. is minimally scandalous.