Scholz, Merz and Habeck at Joko & Klaas live: “We are not enemies”

It was an unusual television moment on Wednesday evening: At prime time, the three candidates for chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Friedrich Merz (CDU) and Robert Habeck (Greens) appeared one after the other on ProSieben.

Joko Winterscheidt and Klaas Heufer-Umlauf had earned the 15 minutes of prime time broadcast time the evening before in their show “Joko & Klaas versus ProSieben”. Instead of using the time gained themselves as usual, this time the two entertainers made their broadcast time available to three top politicians – a first in the history of the format.

“We can argue, but we are not enemies,” emphasized Chancellor Olaf Scholz in his contribution. The SPD politician, who is now aiming for new elections on February 23rd after the traffic light coalition broke up, emphasized: “Politics must never become an end in itself. Politics is there to clarify questions and solve problems together.”

Green candidate Robert Habeck went one step further and called his competitors by name: “Olaf Scholz and Friedrich Merz would be different chancellors than me. But like me, they feel committed to the well-being of the country.” At the same time, he warned of threats to democracy from social networks like TikTok and those “who want to break the rules to destroy our democracy.”

CDU leader Friedrich Merz emphasized the value of German democracy: “We Germans are not among the oldest democracies in the world, but we have created a culture that we can be proud of.” He said about his competitors: “Olaf Scholz and Robert Habeck are not enemies – they are political rivals and competitors.”

It is not the first time for Joko and Klaas that they have used the airtime they have gained for socially relevant topics. In the past, they have already drawn attention to issues such as the nursing shortage, sexual harassment and the situation in Iran. With the #PoliticsUndAnstand campaign they wanted to set another example – this time to strengthen the democratic debate culture in Germany.

The setting of the program was deliberately kept simple: each candidate sat alone on a chair in the spotlights on an otherwise dark stage. Under the hashtag #PoliticsUndAnstand, the campaign reached thousands of viewers within minutes.

Remarkable: While Habeck and Merz mentioned and honored their competitors by name, Scholz spoke more generally of “democratic politicians” who had to “build bridges and forge compromises” together.

The joint TV appearance of the three candidates marks the start of a short but intense election campaign. In addition to the Union, SPD and Greens, the AfD has also nominated a candidate for chancellor, Alice Weidel, who, however, has no real chance of participating in the government because none of the other parties want to form a coalition with her. The FDP, Left and BSW are only running with top candidates.