"Leave the church in the village" Markus Lanz corners Klöckner - and suddenly the mood in the studio changes
On "Markus Lanz", Julia Klöckner expressed her concern about the polarization in the Bundestag. However, when Lanz asked the President of the Bundestag pointed questions, the tone in the ZDF studio also became sharper.
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- Julia Klöckner spoke to Markus Lanz about the growing polarization in the Bundestag - and got into an argument with the presenter herself.
- Lanz accused her of contributing to division with certain tweets and decisions.
- The President of the Bundestag defended herself, but in the end also admitted her own mistakes.
The atmosphere in the Bundestag is considered to be more heated than ever before. In a recent interview with ARD-Hauptstadtstudio, Bundestag President Julia Klöckner therefore emphasized that she wanted to act as neutrally as possible in her office, because: "It's also about getting a parliament that is more polarized than ever before to be a role model - also for society."
On his show on Wednesday evening, Markus Lanz analyzed Klöckner's work in office so far and referred to an incident involving the CDU politician at the beginning of June. At the time, Klöckner had called on the Left Party MP Köktürk to leave the Bundestag after she appeared wearing a "Palestine" sweater.
Markus Lanz "doesn't want to be right now, but everyone saw that"
Klöckner defended her actions on Wednesday evening and explained that she had simply followed the rules: "We are a parliament of words and not of political symbols and demonstrations." However, she emphasized: "I did not kick them out. (...) We still have to be precise, because these are things that are suddenly culture wars."
Lanz was unimpressed and countered: "In the end, you asked her to leave. I don't want to be right, but everyone saw that." Julia Klöckner countered annoyed that the left-wing politician "was given the choice" of whether she "stays and puts on another shirt" or "leaves the room".
A steep template for Lanz, who wanted to know: "You would have asked a parliamentarian wearing a sweater with Israel written on it to leave the plenary?" Klöckner promptly replied: "Yes, of course! We are the German Bundestag and anyone who wants to make a statement does so when they have speaking time."
"Not every opinion that I don't share is extremism"
During the broadcast, Klöckner repeatedly drew attention to the precarious situation in which democracy finds itself. She explained that Europe was "under pressure" and that political debate was increasingly taking a back seat, while "dismantling is taking up more and more space".
Klöckner warned: "Differences of opinion tend to turn into moral divides, and people no longer question each other's views, but simply condemn them. And that leads to the fringes becoming more and more extreme and people no longer listening."
The CDU politician therefore pleaded for civilized interaction with one another and said: "Not every opinion that I don't agree with is the same as extremism. Democracy is always an imposition in a good sense." Klöckner added: "The greatest strength of our parliament has never been unity, but civilized debate according to rules."
Julia Klöckner criticizes ZDF presenter: "Now leave the church in the village"
This provided Lanz with a steep template, as he wanted to know why Klöckner, as President of the Bundestag, was contributing to polarization herself by retweeting posts that included sentences such as: "Merz is taking down Dunja Hayali". The CDU politician reacted angrily and defended herself vigorously. She initially emphasized that she had not shared the post "as President of the Bundestag". She then explained: "I was concerned with the content of the migration debate (...) and that's why I retweeted it!" A statement that did not convince Lanz. He made it clear that the choice of words was also "about an attitude".
Klöckner, in turn, did not want to put up with the accusation. She shot back: "You can't insinuate what I was talking about, Mr. Lanz. (...) I was talking about the video!" The presenter nevertheless continued to rage unperturbed and said: "No, it's about the sound." Lanz made it clear: "We're not beating ourselves up! (...) That's not the attitude we should go through life with."
In this context, he compared the polarizing choice of words with the political situation in the USA. A comparison that obviously didn't sit well with Julia Klöckner, as she said sternly: "Now leave the church in the village." Nevertheless, the CDU politician could not avoid admitting her own mistakes at the end of the show: "I never do everything right. (...) We are human beings. We make mistakes and there are also insights in the process."
