Germany, with its myriad formidable problems, is an unlikely beacon of hope. Yet for certain anti-populist commentators like British journalist John Kampfner, it represents exactly that. Kampfner, author of Why the Germans Do it Better (2020)—a passionate rebuke against his native Britain’s Brexit vote—continues to place unwavering faith in Germany’s political establishment despite mounting evidence to the contrary.

“Germany is back,” proclaimed Kampfner in a recent enthusiastic Der Spiegel commentary where he celebrated what he so admires about German politics: the capacity for compromise, even at the cost of abandoning core principles. He lavishes praise on Friedrich Merz, Germany’s presumptive next chancellor, for assembling a coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD) that explicitly excludes the right-populist AfD.

Kampfner applauds Merz’s remarkable about-face on state debt (having championed fiscal restraint during the campaign before pushing through a billion-euro debt program before the new parliament was even seated) as exemplary German pragmatism and adaptability. In another commentary for the Guardian, he approvingly quotes SPD leader Lars Klingbeil: “What differentiates this country from others is that we are ready, as parties of the democratic center, to find solutions and not to leave ground for populist extremism to blossom.”

Kampfner’s judgment is clearly so clouded by his visceral fear of populism that he fails to see reality. There’s a profound irony in citing the leader of a party that hemorrhaged nearly ten points in the February election as an authority against populism. The truth is that populism has been flourishing in Germany for years. Klingbeil’s SPD, which led the previous coalition, received a mere 16.4% of votes—falling well behind the populist AfD’s 20.8%. Recent polls indicate the AfD has only gained momentum since the election, now standing at 26%, making it Germany’s most popular party.