Kevin Kühnert: From loud Juso boss to quiet moderator

Loud, cheeky but still diplomatic – Kühnert made a name for himself as Juso boss and shook up the political scene as SPD general secretary. His resignation came as a surprise to many.

“We have an interest in there being something left of this store – damn it” – that’s how Kevin Kühnert liked to stir up SPD party conferences. The Juso boss at the time was cheeky, loud and well-known. He happily said in interviews: “At least now I no longer have to explain to anyone who the Jusos are.”

As his popularity increased, so did his influence. Kühnert pulled the strings when it came to finding a new dual leadership after the disaster surrounding the resignation of party leader Andrea Nahles.

Close cooperation between Kühnert and Scholz

That was also the moment when Kühnert was more powerful in the SPD than Olaf Scholz. At that time he wanted to become party leader, together with Klara Geywitz. Kühnert had a different opinion. The Juso boss was one of the biggest internal party opponents of the then grand coalition. And for him Scholz was the symbol of this grand coalition. Kühnert called his troops and ensured that the then unknown duo Saskia Esken and Norbert Walter Borjans were elected to the top of the party.

For Scholz, it was a deeply depressing moment and a huge defeat. Nevertheless, he and Kühnert were later to work closely and trustingly together, even if, according to Kühnert in one ARD interview “Even today, we’re not best friends. You don’t have to be that way in political cooperation. But we can express our opinions. We speak directly to each other and not through the public.”

The party seemed united – but also boring

By then, Kühnert had already risen to the SPD party executive committee and had actually found a friend in the Willy Brandt House: the then General Secretary Lars Klingbeil. Both were football fans and later entertained themselves with a joint podcast “The K-Question”. The duo ensured that calm returned to the SPD. No more public bickering. The party appeared united in a way it hadn’t for years.

But also a bit boring. Because as part of the political establishment, Kühnert also became quieter. He rose to become the new general secretary – and from then on could only use his great talent for speaking against the opposition. His former opponent within the party, Scholz, was now the SPD chancellor whom he was supposed to support. After winning the election and taking office as Chancellor, the comrades experienced a different, reserved Kühnert. Gone are the days of fiery speeches and verbal provocation.

At the party conference in December 2021, the socialists elected Kühnert as Klingbeil’s successor with 77.8 percent. Advance praise looked different. Some people probably feared that the man who once prevented Scholz from becoming party leader could become too powerful. They were wrong.

From rebel to moderator

From then on, Kühnert chose the role of moderator. Less general, more secretary of the party, Kühnert focused on keeping the SPD together during turbulent times in government. He traveled to the regional associations and formed networks. The loud Juso of yore, he becomes the explainer of an SPD in turbulent times. The war against Ukraine, energy crisis. “We would also like to be able to govern more calmly, with less outside influence,” he once said. But that’s just politics.

And no matter what happened in the traffic light government, the SPD under General Kühnert remained silent. Criticism of the Chancellor? Secretary General Kühnert remained silent. They often talked to each other and had frequent phone calls. Nothing came out. The Secretary General sometimes sounded like a government spokesman. When the traffic lights began to rumble and some people criticized the moderator Scholz, the SPD and the Willy Brandt House kept quiet.

Chancellor election association? The swear word that they once invented for the CDU, some comrades used it for the first time in their own shops. Chancellor election association SPD. Kühnert once said: ARD capital studiothe word has nothing to do with his SPD. Kühnert and Scholz? Two comrades who needed each other. “I don’t have to make peace with Olaf Scholz because we were never at war with each other,” Kühnert said at the time. Scholz’s success is the SPD’s success. You are a “community of fate”.

Re-election in 2023 followed by defeats

But in 2023 there was already a crisis in this “community of fate”. Scholz was too silent and not combative enough for his comrades. They didn’t want a moderator, they wanted a socialist in the Chancellery. Kühnert also called for orientation in times of crisis. He organized the SPD party conference in Berlin. Scholz’s appearance was a success. The successful choreography of the party conference, a work by Comrade Kühnert.

With 92.6 percent, the Socialists confirmed their general secretary in office in December 2023. It was a vote of confidence from the rank and file for their general secretary, who subsequently experienced and had to explain three lost elections in the East this year. And on top of that, there was a very personal debacle: the failed European elections.

It was the first campaign that Kühnert was responsible for independently. On the posters of the Chancellors including the word “Peace”. But the voters did not make peace with this SPD – almost 14 percent in the European elections. The debacle also went home with Secretary General Kühnert.

Recognition for Kühnert’s resignation

Can Kühnert organize a federal election campaign? He himself believed in it. Just a few days ago he ruled out his resignation in a ZDF talk show. “If that would help, I would do it immediately. But it wouldn’t help,” said Kühnert.

Apparently only very few people knew about the 35-year-old’s health problems. One of them: co-chairman and close friend Lars Klingbeil. Both he and Saskia Esken were both shocked and shocked on the day of their resignation, which came as a complete surprise to most people. But also full of respect for the exceptional political talent Kühnert, who now took himself off the seat.

“I bear responsibility for myself and the SPD,” wrote Kühnert. By taking full care of his health now, he can best meet his dual responsibility. Klingbeil said it differently. “Politics isn’t everything.” Kühnert’s decision is the best proof of this.