On Sunday, the German far-right party Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) won a resounding—and disturbing—victory in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. While falling short of the majority it needed to control the government without other parties’ cooperation, the result is the latest sign that AfD’s ultranationalist politics are surging in parts of the country. If other states follow suit, the result could be a brewing crisis for German democracy, and a further signal that authoritarian, xenophobic politics are ascendant in Europe.

But AfD’s defenders in Germany and abroad, meanwhile, have spent the days since the election responding to a different threat: people using the term “far right” to accurately describe AfD’s policies and positions.

“AfD is not far-right,” the party’s co-chairwoman and parliamentary leader, Alice Weidel, tweeted on Tuesday, responding to a CBS News headline that used the term. AfD enthusiast Elon Musk agreed, embarking on a tweeting spree this week attempting to delegitimize the phrase, calling The Wall Street Journal “knuckleheads” for using it in reference to AfD, and opining that “legacy media” views “normalcy” as far right because they are “far left.”

“‘Far right’ is a propaganda term that became especially popular in recent years,” he tweeted on Monday night. On Tuesday morning, he accused CBS of “lying” by using the phrase. He also reposted and agreed with a tweet that claimed that “far right is just whatever was considered being normal in the early 2000s.”

Other people associated with the far right were quick to attack use of the term. Tommy Robinson, the British anti-Islam activist, quote-tweeted Weidel, adding, “Far right is codeword for ordinary decent citizens.” People in the MAGAverse also joined in: Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) tweeted “Leftists identify themselves in many ways, including a pattern of referring to any conservative movement, policy, or politician as ‘far right.’” And Donald Trump........

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