Friedrich Merz: A Nazi comparison overshadows his speech at the Junge Union

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Jens Spahn was modest. Actually, he was just the opening act for Friedrich Merz, he said during his appearance at the annual meeting of the Junge Union in Halle (Saale). Huge applause and laughter among the delegates. He was, the deputy parliamentary group leader of the Union then hastily added, but very happy. Spahn was still celebrated like a main act at the conservative youth’s “Germany Day”.

What will stick with this weekend’s youth meeting is not the rather cautious speech by Chancellor candidate Merz. But another sentence from Spahn.

Right at the beginning of his speech on Saturday morning, he mentioned the Bundestag Vice President Aydan Özoğuz (SPD) in the same breath as the Nazi war criminal Hermann Göring. “It is a shame that for the first time since Hermann Göring, we are meeting in the German Bundestag again, discussing things, and there is someone sitting and presiding who is inciting against Israel and against Jews, that is unacceptable,” said Spahn. Özoğuz must resign.

SPD general secretary reacts sharply to Spahn’s Nazi comparison

Spahn complained about hatred of Jews on German streets and at German universities and said: “And we see it at the highest level.” The social democrat Özoğuz had “not shared hatred and agitation against Jews, hatred and agitation against Israel on social media for the first time.” The SPD and the Greens tried to quickly move on to the agenda.

The SPD reacted with horror to Spahn’s comparison. The new SPD general secretary Matthias Miersch said this star: “Such Nazi comparisons are self-directing. Jens Spahn can obviously only draw attention to himself through terrible demagoguery.” Miersch added that it was sad to see the path that important representatives of the Union would take.

in which Israel was accused of apartheid and colonialism. One photo showed burning objects with the words: “This is Zionism” written above them. Özoğuz was then accused of anti-Semitism and questioning Israel’s right to exist. The Bundestag Vice President later distanced herself from the posting.

Friedrich Merz has led the party for exactly 1,000 days

Friedrich Merz did not mention Özoğuz during his appearance in Halle early Saturday afternoon. He was received by the party youth as if he had long been chancellor. The word was written in huge letters on the screen behind the stage, highlighted in black, red and gold. Merz was able to celebrate a small anniversary on this day: the 68-year-old has now led the CDU for 1,000 days.

There were 1,000 days in which Merz showed that he was just as good at exacerbating, polemicizing and illustrating as Jens Spahn. And that he is also quite willing to cross verbal boundaries at times.

But now the man is a candidate for chancellor and has to act differently than a parliamentary group deputy. This caution was evident in his speech. Compared to other performances, the 45 minutes were almost gentle. Olaf Scholz could have done that too.

The CDU candidate for chancellor uses ideas from the SPD

Merz’s praise for a Social Democrat was noteworthy: Wolfgang Clement, the former super minister for economics and labor. The Union’s candidate for chancellor cited him as a role model, as a reformer. “Labor market policy is economic policy and not social policy,” says Merz. After a possible election victory, he would like to merge the two ministries, as he once did under Clement (and a Chancellor Gerhard Schröder).

The rest is quickly told: reduction in bureaucracy, abolition of citizens’ money, rejection at borders, more joy in achievement. “Politics for the hard-working middle,” said Merz in Halle. This is also borrowed from the Social Democrats: For months, the SPD party leadership has been trying to use this sentence to explain that they really, really understood that now, after the introduction of citizens’ money, politics would once again be made for the working part of the population. Merz can use the rate without this mortgage.

Merz wants to close the open flank

At the “Germany Day” Merz also wanted to close an open flank of the Union, even if the topic – especially here, among the party’s young people – does not cause a storm of cheers: pensions. “We need a statutory retirement age. And this statutory retirement age should remain at 67,” he promised. The Union faction leader assured: “No, there will be no pension cuts in Germany.” Merz is doing this because they in the Union have recognized the trap that the SPD is setting up: here the pension-is-safe Chancellor Scholz, there the pension-cutting Merz. Dear voters, the choice is yours!

Hand-stopped: It was five minutes and 19 seconds that the young delegates cheered their dream chancellor after the speech. He was celebrated in the hall like a rock star, one of retirement age, but that’s what the Rolling Stones have been for a long time. And maybe it’s like this: Others in the Union band are now responsible for the scandals. Someone like Spahn, for example. The candidate for chancellor may pale in comparison, but he is already setting the rhythm himself these days.