What leads a politician to pull up stakes and migrate all the way to the other end of the political spectrum? The contemporary cases of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Tulsi Gabbard, and the German politician Sahra Wagenknecht offer instructive examples, none of which bodes well for today’s democratic politics.
MUNICH – What do Tulsi Gabbard, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and the German politician Sahra Wagenknecht have in common? They all appear to have migrated across the political spectrum. Gabbard and Kennedy are both former Democrats who now vocally support Donald Trump, and Wagenknecht has gone from the far left of Germany’s Left Party to strident nationalism. Earlier this year, she founded a new party modestly named after herself. After faring well in elections in three East German states this fall, the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance seems likely to enter the Bundestag in the 2025 federal election.
