“Anne Will” in the TV review: What Hubert Aiwanger has in common with populists

The leaflet affair surrounding Hubert Aiwanger has sparked a heated discussion. The deputy prime minister of Bavaria is said to have had an anti-Semitic pamphlet in his school bag in the 1980s. According to Aiwanger, his brother was the author. However, he now regrets this act.

Markus Söder described the content of the leaflet as “inhumane and downright disgusting”. Nevertheless, he stuck to his deputy. A dismissal would be “not proportionate” because there is no evidence as to whether Aiwanger wrote or distributed the letter. In addition, the incident happened too long ago and no comparable allegations have been made known since then.

Is it correct that Söder did not fire his deputy? Why are the Free Voters gaining support despite the allegations against Aiwanger? And what does the leaflet affair say about right-wing populism and anti-Semitism in Germany?

The following guests discussed this at “Anne Will” in the evening:

Günther Beckstein is of the opinion that Aiwanger did not cut a good figure. His dealings were “anything but sensible and professional.” Nevertheless, he thinks it is right that Aiwanger remained in office. After all, other people would also have to fear that their “youthful sins” would become known if they had a certain job. The fact that Beckstein speaks of “youthful sins” in this context shows that he did not understand the significance of the leaflet affair at all.

Hubert Aiwanger on the trail of Putin and Trump

The journalist Marina Weisbrand criticizes Aiwanger’s handling of the allegations in the leaflet affair: “If I had had such an accusation, I would not have portrayed myself as a victim of it.” Aiwanger himself spoke of a “political campaign” against himself. In an interview with “Welt” there was even talk of the “instrumentalization of the Shoah.” Weisbrand has absolutely no understanding for this “after a fascist hate pamphlet was found in his school bag.” “This is not a time-barred youthful sin.” It is important that Aiwanger asks the public for an apology and not just the Jews: “Anti-Semitism is not a problem of the Jews, anti-Semitism is a problem of German culture,” says Weisbrand.

Weisbrand analyzes Aiwanger’s strategy in the leaflet affair in razor-sharp detail. Aiwanger would use the “Donald Trump playbook.” “Not only did he immediately say I was the victim, but he also said, ‘actually I’m not the victim, it’s against you – the normal people,'” says Weisbrand. Aiwanger would be telling a similar story to Trump, Putin and other populists: “You are all helpless victims and can’t do anything about it, but if you vote for me, the strong uncle, I will show it to those up there.”

Is the media to blame?

Florian Streibl, Bavarian parliamentary group leader of the Free Voters, apparently understood nothing of what Marina Weisbrand said. He presses on the tear duct. Hubert Aiwanger is not just a politician, “but also a human being.” “There is also a family behind it,” says Streibl melodramatically. He is trying to take Aiwanger out of the firing line and to do so by pillorying the media – especially the Süddeutsche Zeitung, which was the first to make the allegations against Aiwanger public. It would seem as if the Süddeutsche Zeitung wanted to have a direct influence on the state elections in Bavaria. What particularly bothers him is the timing of the reporting, as the state elections are imminent. “It could have been brought at a different time,” says Streibl, acting as if journalists had a responsibility towards the electoral success of the Free Voters.