A 75-year-old politician from a small German political party has withdrawn his candidacy for the upcoming federal elections following the discovery of his sexually explicit comments on social media.
Bernd Vogel, a retired teacher, has had a varied political career, having previously run for the FDP in the 2013 Lower Saxony state elections and later for the AfD in federal elections. More recently, he had joined the conservative minor party "Bündnis Deutschland" (Alliance Germany).
The politician's campaign aspirations for the February federal elections came to an abrupt end on Tuesday, January 6, 2025, after his inappropriate social media activity on platform X (formerly Twitter) came to light. He had been regularly posting explicit comments on adult content creators' posts, apparently unaware that his comments were publicly visible. Adding to the embarrassment, he had initially included "Bündnis Deutschland" in his profile name.
Among his controversial interactions, the 75-year-old made sexually explicit comments about various OnlyFans models' physical attributes. After these activities began circulating online, many of his comments were deleted.
The state board of Bündnis Deutschland Lower Saxony swiftly condemned his behavior in a press release, stating that "Such actions stand in direct opposition to our party's values and will not be tolerated."
The party leadership demanded that Bernd Vogel publicly apologise for his behavior and withdraw his candidacy. He promptly complied, posting on X: "I apologize for the stupid posts. I am withdrawing my candidacy from the state list and will not run as a direct candidate in any constituency. Sorry!"
Dorendorf responded positively to the resignation, noting, "We appreciate your step to provide clarity and face the consequences of these events. Everyone makes mistakes; what matters is how one deals with them."
