The AfD was different when it started. Bernd Lucke, who led the party in the beginning, was mainly against Europe from an economic standpoint. He left the party after he failed to get rid of the racist elements.

It is sad to see that only the far right is advocating to leave the EU and have better immigration politics. The far left (Die Linke) used to be on the same boat when it comes to these issues and Sahra Wagenknecht actually announced that the left should be more open to discuss those issues in the future.

The AfD voters are supported by all the stuff they see coming from the states like "Islam is evil" is kind of a harsh thing to say if about 7% of your population are muslims.

However I think having the AfD be the third strongest party will be a good thing for free speech. As much as I don't like many far right arguments, I do believe they have the right to voice their opinions in the parlament.