The former president of the European Parliament has called Donald J. Trump’s policies “un-American” and said he will stand up to the U.S. president if he is elected to be Germany’s next chancellor.

Martin Schulz, the left-wing Social Democratic Party (SPD) candidate in Germany’s September federal elections, told the Funke media group he would defend liberal values and fight moves to lift sanctions on Russia.

“What Trump is doing is un-American,” Mr. Schulz said. “The United States is like no other country for enlightenment, democratic and free values.”

“If Trump is now driving a wrecking ball through this set of values, then I will tell him as chancellor: That’s not the policy of Germany and Europe,” he added.

A shock poll last week showed Mr. Schulz and the SPD drawing equal with Angela Merkel and her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party in the race to be the next chancellor.

He recently stepped down as president of the European parliament after five years leading it and more than 20 sitting as an MEP. There, he was known to be even more pro-European Union (EU) than Mrs. Merkel and made a name for himself as an arch-federalist and fierce opponent of Brexit.

Mrs. Merkel has repeatedly criticised Mr. Trump during his short time in power, “explaining” the Geneva Refugee Convention to him and publicly accusing him of anti-Muslim bigotry.

However, the most strident criticism of the U.S. president from a German politician came from the SPD Justice Minister Heiko Maas, who implied Mr. Trump was un-American, disturbing, and irritating.

He told the Rheinische Post that “it is disturbing when people are lumped together according to their beliefs or their origin under general condemnation,” in relation Mr. Trump’s 90 day pause on immigration from terror-linked states.

He also condemned the dismissal of the U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates, saying, “The way the Trump administration dealt with internal government critics is worrying”.