In TV duel
Höcke defends the use of words from banned SA slogans
Björn Höcke (AfD, l) and Mario Voigt (CDU, r), top candidates for the state elections in Thuringia, are in the TV duel on Welt TV
© Michael Kappeler / DPA
Next week, AfD state leader Björn Höcke will be in court because of a banned SA quote. In the TV duel with Mario Voigt, he claims that it is a “common saying”.
A week before the start of a trial for sedition against Thuringia’s AfD leader Björn Höcke defended the use of the words “Everything for Germany,” which is what the trial is about. He used it in a free campaign speech and ultimately translated Donald Trump’s “America First” into German in a freely interpreted manner, said Höcke on Thursday in a television duel with the Thuringian CDU leader Mario Voigt on the Welt channel. When asked during the speech whether he didn’t know that “Everything for Germany” was an SA slogan, Höcke, who used to be a history teacher, said, “No, I didn’t know.” It is a common saying.
The AfD state leader must appear before the regional court in Halle from April 18th. He is accused of using the banned slogan of the so-called Sturmabteilung (SA), the paramilitary combat organization of the NSDAP, in a speech in Merseburg (Saalekreis) in Anhalt on May 29, 2021.
Björn Höcke and Mario Voigt debate European politics
In the TV duel, Voigt and Höcke also exchanged blows over European politics. Voigt warned of the consequences of Höcke’s European policy ideas. Voigt said he wanted the European Union to die. “That would be a catastrophe for Germany, that would be relegation for Germany.” The EU is not perfect, “but it is a house that has always protected us,” he said.
Höcke, on the other hand, said that Germany had to leave the EU. The 52-year-old, on the other hand, called for a “loose alliance of European states”. Höcke criticized bureaucracy in the EU and high energy prices. The AfD is also for a common market and the protection of external borders. “Otherwise we need independence,” he said.
A debate about Europe and the EU was the starting point for the TV duel. In an interview, Voigt said that Höcke wanted to let Europe die – probably alluding to Höcke’s sentence “This EU must die so that the real Europe can live.” Höcke then threatened legal action on X (formerly Twitter), but then suggested settling the dispute in a dispute.
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A new state parliament will be elected in Thuringia on September 1st. Voigt is the top candidate for the CDU, Höcke for the AfD, which is classified and monitored by the state Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Thuringia as definitely right-wing extremist. In surveys, the AfD is clearly ahead in Thuringia, with the CDU in second place. Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (Left) currently leads a red-red-green minority government. Ramelow is running again in the election.