After a sensitive Merz statement
Weidel: Standing ready for a TV duel with the CDU candidate for chancellor
Three TV duels with Olaf Scholz are too boring for Friedrich Merz. He would also prefer to discuss things with Alice Weidel. The AfD party leader is open to this.
The Alternative for Germany candidate for chancellor has declared her willingness to take part in a TV duel with Friedrich Merz. “Of course I’m looking forward to a direct exchange of blows with Friedrich Merz,” Alice Weidel told RTL/ntv/stern.
On Wednesday, Merz publicly stated that he would rather discuss with Weidel on television than with Chancellor Olaf Scholz from the SPD. “I would like to publicly discuss these issues with Ms Weidel. And I am not avoiding the discussion with the woman either,” said the CDU chairman at the readers’ forum of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”.
Merz has less interest in the incumbent Chancellor: “I get bored with Olaf Scholz in the first half of the first broadcast.”
Weidel and Merz are facing a TV duel
Merz announced that “the sparks would fly” in an exchange of blows with Weidel. Weidel replied: “If he would like to ‘let the sparks fly’, as he explains, I would be happy to compete against him on a station with a wide reach.” She continued: “The voters are certainly excited to see the candidates who are leading in the current polls in a direct duel.”
It is still unclear where such a TV duel could be broadcast. “Of course, we at RTL, ntv and stern are happy to broadcast the exciting exchange of blows if Ms. Weidel and Mr. Merz want to compete against each other,” said Gerhard Kohlenbach, RTL editor-in-chief of politics.
Merz had explained that he also wanted to use the conversation to counter the impression that there were similarities in content between the AfD and the CDU. This is not the case, as Weidel’s speech at the AfD party conference in Riesa also showed.
On February 16th, exactly one week before the election, RTL is already broadcasting the TV duel between Merz and Scholz. Günther Jauch and Pinar Atalay will take over the moderation – and will ensure that, contrary to Merz’s fears, it is anything but boring.
Transparency note: The star is part of RTL Deutschland
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
