Friedrich Merz prefers to squirm as he rarely does, instead of publicly congratulating Angela Merkel on the order. Why not? Maischberger asks – and supports the former chancellor in terms of gender.
CDU leader Friedrich Merz needed a lot of words to spare himself a “congratulations” to Angela Merkel. “Have you already congratulated?” Sandra Maischberger wanted to know from her guest on Tuesday evening – and of course she guessed the answer. Merz’ cool reaction to the award of the Federal Republic’s highest order to the former Chancellor had caused a stir. The day after, he revealed what really pissed him off.
The guests
- Lars Klingbeil, SPD chairman
- Friedrich Merz, CDU chairman
- Daniela Schwarzer, foreign policy expert
- Michael Bröcker, editor-in-chief of “The Pioneer”
- Jörg Pilawa, TV presenter
- Sabine Rennefanz, “Spiegel” columnist
Maischberger asked four times. Each time, Merz, already heated up in the argument with SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil, seemed to become more defensive. He started out reasonably cool and controlled. “It is the sovereign decision of the Federal President to whom he gives the highest order in the Federal Republic of Germany. It is the sovereign decision of the medal bearer to say who she invites,” he initially distracted from the question. “You weren’t invited,” Maischberger explained – or teased, depending on the level of knowledge.
Why doesn’t Merz want to congratulate Merkel?
A few laps later, Merz also faltered a bit linguistically: “No, again, I’m doing it, I’m not making any public statements about it, that’s one thing that’s fine.” “But you don’t want to congratulate Ms. Merkel,” said Maischberger, relaxed and merciless. Merz repeated that as party leader he was proud that his party’s “third chancellor” had received this honor. “Chancellors,” corrected the hostess.
“I congratulated her, I hope that’s okay,” said Klingbeil. Of course, Merkel also made mistakes during her tenure,” said the Social Democrat, referring to relations with Russia. But, he criticized: “I find it exciting, Mr to congratulate the CDU for 16 years at the head of this country.”
Klingbeil continues: “You will have your personal reasons. It’s none of my business either. I was just surprised yesterday that the Social Democrats are the only ones who apparently congratulate with conviction and say thank you to Ms. Merkel.” Merz became more specific about what he thought might be the problem. “Ms. Merkel has decided to invite only old companions and active social democratic politicians to this award ceremony. That is her decision. As it is, it’s okay,” he said.
“Söder panics”
The two party leaders had previously argued – according to “Tagesthemen” moderator Helge Fuhst for the first time in a direct exchange of blows on a talk show – about the nuclear phase-out and heating. “We are taking three safe, CO2-free nuclear power plants off the grid for ideological reasons,” said Merz. He called the proposal by the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) “ready for discussion” to continue the Isar 2 nuclear power station under state responsibility.
“In between, I also had the feeling that he was sticking to this nuclear power plant, it was so bitter the last few days,” said Klingbeil. He wished that “Markus Söder should finally start building wind turbines in Bavaria” and certified the CSU boss as a diversionary maneuver before the election campaign. “Markus Söder is in a panic mode because he has failed to really promote the expansion of renewable energies in Bavaria in recent years.”
Both party chairmen hardly held back verbally when it came to the topic of heat transition. “What the coalition is doing is a crowbar. The population doesn’t go along with it. That’s how you discredit climate goals,” said Merz at “Maischberger”.
Klingbeil, on the other hand, promised: There will be subsidies for switching to heat pumps. “It will be in the cabinet tomorrow. I’m not a member of the cabinet, so I don’t know the exact template. But we put pressure on it. It will be cushioned,” he assured. “For everyone, no matter what they earn?” Maischberger asked.
