After ten mixed weeks as a minister, Karl Lauterbach relies on old strengths and throws himself back into talk show battles. And veteran debate champ Jeff Kornblum makes no nonsense, no prisoners. Top casting for Sandra Maischberger’s “Woche” show!
The guests
► Professor Karl Lauterbach (58, SPD). The Minister of Health in heavy seas: The obligation to vaccinate remains controversial!
► Sevim Dağdelen (46, left). The MEP is determined to keep Ukraine out of NATO.
► John Kornblum (79). The former US ambassador to Germany criticized: “Joe Biden’s impotence encouraged Vladimir Putin!”
► Hubertus Meyer Burckhardt (65). The NDR Talkmaster is for general vaccination.
► Dagmar Rosenfeld (48). The editor-in-chief (WELT am SONNTAG) has Lauterbach as “loser of the week”.
► Stephan Stuchlik (54). The journalist was an ARD correspondent in Moscow.
Today, the facts collide head-on with the fakes because there are no neutral experts. The Zoff-O-Meter is particularly sharp for this!
Most emotional start statement
Meyer-Burckhardt had cuffs before vaccination against Corona because of a cancer diagnosis: “There is always a doctor who says: Are you crazy? That might stimulate carcinomas!” he reports.
But, according to the TV man: “I still made the decision to do it because I believe that as a citizen I owe it to other fellow citizens.”
Most disturbing example
“It’s always the same theater!” complains the ARD man. Something is always decided and a few days later overturned. That’s why, according to his candid self-diagnosis, he now has “professional signs of fatigue”.
The editor-in-chief worries about the long-term effects of the lockdowns: Polar bears in cages, she says, “always only run from left to right. Then when they are released into an enclosure, they just keep running from left to right because they have forgotten how to take the space.”
most legitimate claim
“I miss his authority to set guidelines,” Meyer-Burckhardt then criticized the chancellor. Lauterbach, as Minister of Health, is not the federal government’s optimism officer, but is there to describe the worst-case scenario.
Therefore, according to the TV man, “it should be the Chancellor who says: I’ll bring the various aspects – economy, culture, freedom – into harmony. I want to know what he wants!”
Dagmar Rosenfeld (48), Editor-in-Chief (WELT am SONNTAG) Photo: ARD
Most apt formulations
“It’s typical Scholzism to say we’re doing everything that’s necessary now,” Stuchlik assists. “That’s where some of the uncertainty comes from. He always sounds like he’s speaking in private.”
The angry editor-in-chief counted Lauterbach out and identified him as the “loser of the week” because he “very often spreads alarmism.” I would call Karl Lauterbach the ‘father of the worst-scenario chest’!”
Her harsh accusation: “As eloquent as Karl Lauterbach is on talk shows, what he does in his ministry is so ineffective.” Boom!
Most positive reviews
Then the minister steps out of the scenes and tries to dim the excitement: “The number of cases will now decrease,” he promises. Because of the much-criticized measures for restaurants or retail, for example, “we came through this omicron wave better than other countries around us.”
“I’m always attacked when I name numbers,” complains Lauterbach. “It’s then called ‘Panic Minister’.” But without the measures “we would have had many more deaths.”
Then the Zoff-O-Meter starts
The talk show host is looking for the fly in the ointment: 2G in retail “should also serve to persuade unvaccinated people to get vaccinated,” she says. Your pointed question: “Can you say today: That at least failed?”
“I don’t like to say that something went wrong,” defends the minister, “because we still had vaccinations. The new primary vaccinations are almost all for adolescents and children. They are smarter than the adults!”
“We’re sticking to it: That didn’t work,” teases Maischberger.
“If you want to hear a failure: exactly!” the minister blunders back. “I confess a failure here, but we have had it for a long time, so not the current government, but it has been going on for the last year and a half!”
Strongest Warning
Lauterbach says about the bills on general vaccination requirements: “I hope that the two groups – vaccination requirements from 18, vaccination from 50 – will come together because they are very similar in philosophy and reasoning. We can find a compromise there.”
His unfortunate prediction: “If we don’t get compulsory vaccination, we’ll have to make contact restrictions again in the fall. The debate, which no one wants to hear anymore, comes up again, and only because there is a small group here that is not willing to get involved in solidarity.”
Angriest press scolding
The talk show host remains on the offensive: it’s not the job of a minister, she scolds her guest, “to spread out all the scenarios that can frighten us in their horrible clarity!”
“I’m not doing that!” Lauterbach defends himself. “I have to say quite frankly that the Springer press accused me of that. I can accept that because I don’t find it illegitimate when publishers or press organs take a political position and push for openings.”
But then the anger breaks out of him: “The BILD newspaper describes me as a panic-monger or panic minister,” he growls. “Together with a few CDU people. From my point of view, this is campaign journalism. Not everything that is in the BILD newspaper is true!”
Most unexpected criticism
Biggest surprise: When it comes to Ukraine, the ARD journalist of all people dampens the general enthusiasm about the clear words of the Federal President to Putin.
“Six months ago, Steinmeier said that Nord Stream 2 had to be completed as a bridge to Russia. You have a historical responsibility there,” recalls Stuchlik. Regarding the current change of heart, “I have to say: You have come a long way, baby!”
Because, according to the ARD man: “I don’t think anyone has any doubts that the aggression is coming from Russia!”
Crazy attack
Mistake! Germany’s Putin understanders are by no means hiding, and one is even on the talk show: For left-wing politician Dağdelen, only the United States and NATO are to blame for the tensions.
“That attack, which the CIA said with 100 percent certainty would come at 3 a.m. this Wednesday, has been called off,” she explains. “But I would like to warn against believing that this is a signal from Russia because of the West’s position of harshness. That is a misjudgment!”
Their reasoning: Ukraine had declared that joining NATO was off the table, and both Scholz and Macron had renewed an old veto against this membership. Ui!
Main correction
Her next accusation is intended to support Putin’s most important propaganda legend: After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the West promised solemnly that NATO would not expand eastward, but then it advanced to Russia’s borders.
Kornblum is amazed by building blocks. “I was there,” he says. “The Russians with whom we negotiated at the time welcomed us as liberators from communism. They wanted to be part of Europe. The politicians involved have said very clearly that no such promise was made. Nobody thought of that!”
John Kornblum and Sevim DağdelenPhoto: The First / ARD
Clearest clarification
According to Kornblum, the impetus for eastward enlargement “came only later from countries like Poland, which were afraid of having to face Russia alone.”
“It was the sovereign decision of the Poles, the Czechs: We want to be members of NATO,” Maischberger marvels. “Where is the problem?”
Most disturbing explanation
“Of course, anyone can make an application,” admits the left, “but with a pigeon breeders’ club it is also the case that the club and the general meeting decide whether the application is approved or not.” Heidewitzka!
The talk show host can’t believe it: “You say NATO is a pigeon fanciers association?”
Kornblum looked at the ceiling for help. Now he’s putting an end to the nonsense: “The great threat to Russia is not the weapons,” he says. “The United States has reduced its troops from 300,000 to 50,000. The great threat to Russia is democracy!”
Most hopeful prognosis
Because, the diplomat continued: “The Russians do not feel threatened. Your president feels threatened. Russia is a dictatorship. A kleptocracy. Putin has been waging war against his own people for the last 20 years!”
But now, according to Kornblum, “Putin has had his games. He understood that he couldn’t go any further. And that we will now find ways to reduce the confrontation.” Amen!
quote of the evening
“It’s not about being bossy!” Prof. Karl Lauterbach
Conclusion
Clear analyzes against confused allegations, the talk show host with medical patience: That was a talk show in the “Info-Infusion” category.