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In the end, Friedrich Merz did not understand the world of talk shows at all. One day when China and 14 other Asia-Pacific countries sign the world’s largest free trade agreement, he has to speak on television about whether a law talks about creditors. “Right now we have some other problems that we have to solve,” says the CDU man, almost outraged.
Gender is an ideal topic for a talk show, almost surprising that it doesn’t happen more often. A discussion is scheduled and Friedrich Merz is a grateful guest for it. His refusal to even want to talk about it is the perfect template for the Greens’ Annalena Baerbock. He then lectures her on what “structural discrimination” looks like in Germany, for example when a woman does not get a loan but a man does. Or if there are no children in the Infection Protection Act because there is no Child Protection Act. Merz reacts with a smile, lacks detailed knowledge on the subject.
And Merz gives the impression that he doesn’t really care. According to the motto: If Baerbock and Olaf Scholz of the SPD, who is sitting to his left, take it so seriously, they should implement it in the Bundestag. He wants to be left alone with the hassle. After all, there are more important things.
A question too big for this show
Friedrich Merz’s reaction is well suited because it leads to the core of the gender debate. For some, women’s rights are an extremely important issue, as are those of children, migrants, transsexuals and other minorities. For others it is an exaggerated discussion about prosperity. The dispute is sometimes bitter and that is why Merz is wrong on one point: the theme fits well into the title of the show, Anne Will asks: “How do we want to live?”
“It’s a great question, no doubt,” says the moderator at the beginning. You could also have said: too big a question for this show. There is rarely an answer to this. The visions are only exchanged here and there, the public would have liked to know more about them. Can guests in the studio play a decisive role in how Germany will get through the next few years? Olaf Scholz is already a candidate for chancellor for the SPD in the federal elections next fall. Annalena Baerbock is one of two prospective people expected to run for the Greens (the other being her co-chair, Robert Habeck). And Friedrich Merz is trying to become president of the CDU soon, and then he would be the first choice for a Union candidate. Anne Will invites you to a kind of pre-TV duel for the chancellery in 2021.
What comes out of it is quite disappointing. Merz even complained a few times on the show. Too much daily politics, too little big picture. Only Baerbock goes one step further and demands: “We have to change the way we do business from head to toe.” More and more and cheaper, that destroys us all and the environment. Growth at any price could no longer go on like this. Furthermore, the climate crisis must be fought with determination, until 2050 no more CO₂ should be emitted.
Merz looks at Baerbock as a strict father with a wrinkled forehead and Schnutenmund. Another time he smiles, like he’s looking at the old enemy image of the green weirdo.
The condolences in the room remain in the memory of this broadcast. Scholz “expressly” endorses Baerbock’s statements on several occasions. Merz, on the other hand, faces headwinds and feels the editorial team has put him in the wrong light. Either with a date (“We have to be a little careful so that we don’t all get used to the fact that we can live without a job”) or because Anne Will asks about her job at financial services provider Blackrock early on.
Both Scholz and Baerbock notably disagree with Merz. It’s remarkable how upset Baerbock is with him, once she chides him: “You have to listen a little now.” Scholz distinguishes himself almost inexorably. Not just when it comes to gender and women’s rights. After this broadcast, one must wonder with whom a potential Chancellor Merz wants to form a coalition next fall. (Christian Lindner would likely volunteer right away.)
No one should rule out candidate Olaf Scholz too soon
On the issue of the state budget, Merz brings the classic CDU that we must return to the debt brake after the Corona years. He criticizes the Greens for wanting to invest another € 500 billion over ten years in the transition to a climate neutral economy. Merz asks who should pay for that. Until Scholz intervenes and explains dryly in North German: “I’d like to help with the facts a bit.” As finance minister, he increased the investment quota to exactly 50 billion per year. Without having to assume new debts. This passage shows that no one should rule out candidate Olaf Scholz too soon. Even if you compete for the SPD.
Until the end, it remains unclear what Friedrich Merz would like to talk about. Sure, young entrepreneurs should stay in the country. China is the great danger. Taxes should not be increased under any circumstances and taxes alone should be abolished completely. Everything seems a bit dusty. But the fact that he gets defensive in a program with a member of the SPD and a Green party probably doesn’t diminish his chances of being chaired by the CDU. The general longing for the good old days could also be a factor there and help politician Merz. And if there should be a real TV showdown with Scholz and Baerbock next year, Friedrich Merz now knows what to expect.
