Olaf Scholz mocks “Fritze Merz” – he reacts indignantly

There is a lot going on these days in the communication between (current) Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his possible successor Friedrich Merz. After the verbal exchange of blows with mutual attacks during the Bundestag debate before the vote of confidence, there was a problem with Merz’s response to Scholz in the ZDF “Heute Journal” – the line from the Mainz studio to Berlin did not work, the interview with the CDU leader in the The live broadcast was initially canceled.

In an interview with moderator Christian Sievers, Scholz had previously accused his opponent of saying “nonsense” in the Bundestag – North German for nonsense. The former mayor of Hamburg called the opposition leader “Fritze Merz” in a rather unfriendly manner.

Merz had a speech in parliament in the afternoon (read the debate in star-Liveblog according to) claims that the Chancellor behaved rudely towards another head of government in the European Council and that this was “an embarrassment to others”. When asked about this on Monday evening on ZDF, Scholz said literally: “Fritze Merz likes to tell nonsense. And that won’t be the only thing where he behaves like that. (…) He has shown it many times and will continue to do so in the future Election campaign often show the citizens.

After the recorded conversation, ZDF journalist Sievers went live to the CDU leader and welcomed him. Then on the screen: a silent Merz for seconds. The connection didn’t work on the next attempt either. “I’m not listening to you now,” Merz finally said. Sievers broke off the conversation and announced that he would try again during the program.

After the news overview, the connection was established – and the moderator was able to ask the obvious question, given the interaction between Merz and Scholz, whether one now had to prepare for this level in the election campaign. Merz let it be known that he forbade personal attacks from the Chancellor – and immediately followed up: “He constantly talks about respect, but the moment someone has a different opinion than him, his respect just stops.” Merz cited as an example that Scholz had also denied FDP leader Christian Lindner’s “moral maturity” for a government office in the Bundestag in the afternoon. “I won’t go to this level,” said Merz.

Merz continued: “I expect this respect in our dealings with one another so that at the end of the day our democracy does not suffer any more damage than it has already suffered under the government that has just fallen apart.”

However, Merz had already attacked Scholz personally at the weekend and wrote that Scholz was isolated in the EU. “Unfortunately, you have to put it this way: the majority of European heads of state and government simply no longer want to meet the German Chancellor, who either sits in silence for hours or lectures the world.”

The former CDU chancellor candidate and North Rhine-Westphalia Prime Minister Armin Laschet also criticized Scholz for his choice of words. “Laughing at the competitor’s name is unacceptable. The opposition leader is not the “Fritze” for the Chancellor. This destroys all respect among democrats,” Laschet wrote on X.

Criticism also came from Green Party leader Felix Banaszak. “I wouldn’t have done it like that,” he said on Deutschlandfunk on Tuesday morning. “And it’s not the first time in the last few weeks that I’ve thought that during the Chancellor’s appearances.”

Just last Wednesday, Scholz, Merz and Green Party lead candidate Robert Habeck promised a respectful election campaign in the “Joko&Klaas” program on Pro Sieben. Given the current situation, this is likely to cause some “communication problems” between the Chancellor and challenger.