TV appearance
Major electoral successes for the AfD: Hoeneß fights against the Greens and traffic lights
Uli Hoeneß: “I’m trying to find out why people voted for AfD”
© Hannes Magerstädt / Getty Images
Entertainment guaranteed: Bavaria’s Honorary President Uli Hoeneß analyzed the AfD’s soaring fortunes in a panel discussion on BR together with other guests. A conversation ensued that could have taken place at any regulars’ table in the republic.
One of the guests over beer and pretzels at the Brunnerwirt was Uli Hoeneß, honorary president of FC Bayern, member of the supervisory board and member of the transfer task force, which was pretty busy at the end of the summer after its masterpiece, the signing of English superstar Harry Kane. The task force neither managed to sign a defensive midfielder, nor did it manage to bring a successor to the departed defender Benjamin Pavard to Munich in the last few meters.
Uli Hoeneß: “The Greens were the AfD’s best election helper”
But, as I said, FC Bayern’s transfer policy was not the issue, but rather the AfD’s electoral successes. And you could have guessed it: Uli Hoeneß had the right explanations ready. The 71-year-old clearly sees the reasons for the AfD’s rise in Berlin. According to Hoeneß, traffic light politics are to blame for everything, and especially the Greens. With his explanation, Hoeneß followed a view that many people in Germany probably share.
Right at the beginning of the show, Hoeneß presented his view of things. “If the government worked to some extent, the AfD’s shares would be halved,” Hoeneß was certain. Eventually he became more precise. The core of the problem is therefore the eco-party: “The Greens were the AfD’s best electoral helper with their arguments,” said Hoeneß. “Shut down nuclear power!” How could that be: “Nobody understands that,” Hoeneß fumed. Hoeneß does not dispute host Kilz’s suggestion that it was Chancellor Angela Merkel who decided to leave. He is concerned with the remaining three nuclear power plants that were recently shut down.
Hoeneß ignored another counter-argument from Anja Kohl, ARD stock market journalist and regular guest on the show, that operating nuclear power plants was not worthwhile for the energy industry. And he made a point: If continued operations had been planned early on, it would at least have been profitable. What followed was a banter about the pros and cons of nuclear power and whether it was good or bad for the climate. For a short time, the discussants were far removed from the AfD topic. Kohl made it clear what she thought of Hoeneß’s arguments: “Kokolores!”
And then this Ödzemir
But then Hoeneß really got going. It’s not just about the “energy story”, it continues with migration and then “this paternalism” by the Greens. When Ursula Münch, political scientist and second regular guest at the “Stammtisch”, asked Ursula Münch exactly what kind of paternalism he meant, Hoeneß brought out the strongest argumentative artillery:
“If Mr. Ödzemir (Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, editor’s note) wants to tell me that I should no longer put sugar in my coffee.”
Münch: “I don’t think he said that.”
Hoeneß: “Yes, of course he said that.”
Münch: “Well, I didn’t read that.”
Hoeneß: “Of course, he tries to help people…”
Münch: “So it was about advertising…”
Hoeneß: “… to talk down meat consumption and sausage consumption completely. That’s not his job. Every citizen in a free country should decide for themselves.”
Münch: “I agree with them. But they now speak a bit of the former sausage manufacturer.”
Hoeneß: “No, not at all. I’m trying to find out why people voted for the AfD. These people just can’t be told what to do.”
Then it was a bit about the economy and everything in general. And then Hoeneß hit one:
“In the beginning they did well, Habeck and Baerbock. (…) After six months of Habeck getting the gas in Qatar and us getting through the difficult winter, I could have voted for the Greens.”
Münch reacted with surprise: “The Greens? You? Mr. Hoeneß! Man!”
But he continued undeterred: “Yes, I would have voted for the Greens. But today I am of the opinion that they have now proven that they have absolutely nothing to lose in a government. They are a great opposition party, (…) but The Greens are completely unsuitable in a government for an economic power like Germany.”
Source:ARD media library.