In a controversial TV duel, the Thuringian CDU politician Voigt and his AfD opponent Höcke discussed. State politics were only marginally discussed; the arguments were about culture of remembrance and sandwiches.
Almost five months before the state elections in Thuringia, federal political issues determined the television duel between top candidates Björn Höcke (AfD) and Mario Voigt (CDU). On the topics of Europe, migration and culture of remembrance, Höcke and Voigt engaged in verbal battles on “Welt TV” for around 70 minutes, which were characterized by mutual accusations of populism and ignorance.
Höcke is considered a right-wing extremist by the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which is why the debate had caused a lot of criticism in advance. The accusation: The event offers Höcke a nationwide forum. The SPD, the Greens and the Left, among others, criticized “Welt TV” for its orientation. This offers the AfD the opportunity to make its positions socially acceptable. The broadcaster rejected this criticism.
“You should look for a confrontation with the AfD, confront it. More of it – and not just from the CDU,” said political scientist Oliver Lembcke after the TV duel. The course of events refutes “all those who had warned against offering Höcke this podium and making him so socially acceptable,” said political scientist and journalist Albrecht von Lucke. “Voigt has provided proof that the AfD can be challenged in terms of content.”
Voigt rules out coalition with AfD
In terms of content, the discussion often moved far away from state politics in Thuringia. According to “Welt TV”, Voigt and Höcke were informed by the editors of Europe, migration and culture of remembrance as topics of discussion a few days before the broadcast. Towards the end, the Russian war against Ukraine also came up. Höcke said: “This war must be ended as quickly as possible – at any price.” Only those who wanted to prolong the war wanted arms deliveries to Ukraine.
During the duel, Voigt again ruled out a coalition with the AfD after the state elections in September. He rejected a corresponding offer from Höcke. Voigt called Höcke “nationalistic” and “authoritarian” and said he did not want to work with him. Voigt himself stated that the CDU wanted to become the strongest force in the state elections. He himself wanted to be the “Prime Minister of all Thuringians”. “You are not bourgeois, you are ethnic. I am democratic, you are authoritarian,” explained Voigt at the end.
Björn Höcke
The Thuringian AfD state leader Björn Höcke has already been accused of incitement on several occasions. For this reason, his immunity as a member of the state parliament has already been lifted eight times.
Currently there is Investigations by the Halle public prosecutor’s office, because Höcke is said to have used a slogan of the Sturmabteilung (SA), the paramilitary fighting organization of the NSDAP, that was banned in Germany at a meeting. From April 18th, Höcke will have to answer before the regional court in Halle.
Because of a post on Telegram, an indictment was also admitted at the Mühlhausen regional court on charges of incitement to hatred. The Meiningen Administrative Court also decided in September 2019, that based on his statements and publications it is permissible to describe Björn Höcke as a fascist.
A new state parliament will be elected in Thuringia on September 1st. In the surveys published since the turn of the year, the AfD was ahead with 29 to 36 percent, followed by the CDU with values around 20 percent. The Left, which currently governs without a majority with the Greens and the SPD under Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow, was recently polled at a maximum of 18 percent. The SPD achieved six to nine percent, the Greens were at five percent.
CDU satisfied, Höcke scores on emotional issues
The only time Höcke really got into trouble was when he was asked about his attitude to the Nazi era and fascism. He didn’t understand that he was banned from entering Buchenwald. And he didn’t know that the SA saying “Everything for Germany” was banned. But, according to Höcke, this shows that criminal law in Germany is “being used more and more to restrict freedom of expression” and “opposition work is being made impossible.” To which Voigt countered that Höcke should stop portraying himself as a victim: “He’s standing here and can express his opinion.”
Voigt was particularly successful in exposing Höcke when it came to the topic of remembrance culture, he said ARD correspondent Sarah Frühauf. People in the Union are happy, she said in the daily topics. His own people saw a “sympathy victory for Voigt”.
It was different with emotional topics. Höcke was able to score points there as a populist. Frühauf cited the issues of inflation and poverty in old age as examples. He wasn’t able to offer any solutions there, but he was able to instrumentalize the issue.
The bun question
The debate became emotional over an everyday question – the correct name for a roll with raw minced meat. Symbolically, it was about ties to home, because Voigt is Thuringian, while Höcke comes from North Rhine-Westphalia.
It’s called minced rolls and not Mettbrötchen, the CDU man told his opponent. Höcke corrected himself. In fact, minced and seasoned pork is not called Mett in Thuringia.
Event on the anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald
“Thuringia does not deserve such a brown and black freak show, and it is a mistake for the Union leadership in Berlin not to have stopped this in advance,” said Left party leader Martin Schirdewan. The event as a whole was undignified and not appropriate to the real problems of the people in Thuringia.
The International Auschwitz Committee – founded by survivors of the largest Nazi extermination camp – had also expressed criticism before the duel. Especially because the meeting between Höcke and Voigt took place on the anniversary of the liberation of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora concentration camps. The committee’s vice president, Christoph Heubner, criticized this as an affront to survivors of the Holocaust at the beginning of March.
The decision of the Thuringian CDU chairman to allow one of the most famous figureheads of right-wing extremist agitation in Europe to make a widely noticed appearance on this day of remembrance seems politically completely devoid of instinct and macabre to survivors of the Holocaust.
CDU candidate Voigt had defended his participation in the duel several times against criticism: For him, it was about confronting Höcke and the AfD directly. The AfD’s good survey results in Thuringia “can no longer be ignored,” said Voigt in the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” at the beginning of March. The Thuringian AfD has been classified and monitored by the state Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a right-wing extremist since March 2021.