Merkel challenger bashes Trump, Brexit at rally

Designated Social Democratic Party chairman and top candidate in the upcoming general elections, former president of the European parliament Martin Schulz, attends the party's Ash Wednesday meeting in Vilshofen, Germany, Wednesday, March 1, 2017. (Angelika Warmuth/dpa via AP) (The Associated Press)

Designated Social Democratic Party chairman and top candidate in the upcoming general elections, former president of the European parliament Martin Schulz, speaks at the party's Ash Wednesday meeting in Vilshofen, Germany, Wednesday, March 1, 2017. (Angelika Warmuth/dpa via AP) (The Associated Press)

Chancellor Angela Merkel's main challenger in September elections has bashed U.S. President Donald Trump, Brexit and nationalism.

In a traditional Ash Wednesday speech in Bavaria that touched on many of the hot-button issues within his Social Democratic Party, former European Parliament President Martin Schulz also told party loyalists that the nationalist Alternative for Germany party was a "disgrace for Germany."

Turning to Trump, he said anyone who wants to build walls, disparages the media as fake news, "calls women's rights into question," or "slanders those with impairments, disabilities or minorities ... has to be criticized."

And that, he said, "goes for the newly elected president of the United States."