In a television duel, the Thuringian CDU leader Mario Voigt had a heated exchange with the AfD right-winger Björn Höcke. The two top candidates for the state elections in Thuringia in September accused each other on Thursday evening on the TV channel Welt of damaging Germany and the German economy.
They also attacked each other personally. “You are poison for the country that is my home,” Voigt accused the AfD politician, who is considered a right-wing extremist by the state Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Höcke countered that Voigt was being populist and didn’t understand his arguments. When it came to migration, Höcke attacked Voigt head-on: “You are now risking the big lip here”.
Voigt and Höcke agreed to the TV duel after a dispute about European policy on the X platform (formerly Twitter). Europe was then the first controversial topic in the show, which was moderated by the two world journalists Tatjana Ohm and editor-in-chief Jan Philipp Burgard.
On Thursday evening, Voigt warned of the consequences of Höcke’s European policy ideas. He wanted the European Union to die, said Voigt in the TV duel on the Welt channel. “That would be a catastrophe for Germany, that would be relegation for Germany.” The EU is not perfect, “but it is a house that has always protected us,” he said.
Höcke calls for EU exit
Höcke, on the other hand, said that Germany had to leave the EU. The 52-year-old, on the other hand, called for a “loose alliance of European states”. Höcke criticized bureaucracy in the EU and high energy prices. The AfD is also for a common market and the protection of external borders. “Otherwise we need independence,” he said.
A debate about Europe and the EU was the starting point for the TV duel. In an interview, Voigt said that Höcke wanted to let Europe die – probably alluding to Höcke’s sentence “This EU must die so that the real Europe can live”. Höcke then threatened legal action on X (formerly Twitter), but then suggested settling the dispute in a dispute.
Voigt called Höcke “nationalist” and “authoritarian”
Voigt clearly rejected Höcke’s offer for collaboration in the TV duel. He 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 “Prime Minister of all Thuringians”.
© dpa/Michael Kappeler
“Money is there”
With a view to the economic situation, Höcke accused the CDU politician Voigt of belonging to a “prosperity-destroying party”. “The money is there, it’s just not being spent on German interests,” said Höcke.
The CDU politician Voigt took a hard line on migration policy – a classic AfD issue. He said illegal migration was a huge problem and the solution was: “Zero illegal migration in Germany”.
Höcke spoke of “remigration”, but remained very vague about who he thought should leave Germany. Instead, he used the term in a previously rarely used sense: it was about bringing German emigrants back into the country.
There has been a debate about the term “remigration” since the revelations about a meeting of radical right-wingers in Potsdam where it was discussed. When right-wing extremists use the term, they usually mean that large numbers of people of foreign origin should leave the country – even under duress.
Duel is taking longer than announced
The TV duel lasted significantly longer than the originally scheduled 45 minutes. Topics also included the war in Ukraine and the culture of remembrance – i.e. the commemoration of German crimes and the Holocaust during the Nazi era. Höcke had expressed many things about this in the past. Now he said: “The Holocaust was a disgrace. Nobody disputes that.”
But he wants a positive identity for Germany. “You can’t win the future with a negative identity,” said Höcke. Voigt said on the subject of patriotism: “I love my country, but I don’t hate others.”
A week before a trial against Höcke for using the Nazi slogan “Everything for Germany,” the AfD state leader defended his choice of words. He used it in a free campaign speech and ultimately translated Donald Trump’s “America First” into German in a freely interpreted manner. When asked, Höcke said that he did not know during the speech that “Everything for Germany” was an SA slogan. It is a common saying.
The TV duel was discussed very controversially in advance. On the one hand, the date on the anniversary of the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar was criticized. The main point of criticism, however, was that Höcke, who was seen as a right-wing extremist, was offered a nationwide stage.
A new state parliament will be elected in Thuringia on September 1st. Voigt is the top candidate for the CDU, Höcke for the AfD, which is classified and monitored by the state Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Thuringia as definitely right-wing extremist. In surveys, the AfD is clearly ahead in Thuringia, with the CDU in second place. Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (Left) currently leads a red-red-green minority government. Ramelow is running again in the election.