TV duel: Wagenknecht vs. Weidel: Six out of ten

It was not known exactly what the top politicians Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) and Alice Weidel (AfD) would duel about. The state elections are over. Although both parties achieved successful election results, only the BSW is facing government responsibility in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg.

With this hook, the exchange of blows began on Wednesday evening on the private channel “Welt TV”. The Springer medium invited the two parliamentary group leaders and prospective candidates for chancellor to the debate. The result was an evening that oscillated between thematic congruence and personal hostility.

After both had briefly and harmlessly stated their peaceful intentions for the debate, Sahra Wagenknecht confronted her opponent with a quote. Alice Weidel would have described the BSW as the “stirrup holder of the old parties” during the explorations in the newly elected state parliaments. A term that she, Wagenknecht, finds “dishonoring.” In response, the AfD chairwoman simply referred to the usual harsh tone in the election campaign.

“I’m not a communist.”

Sahra Wagenknecht BSW Chairwoman

Before the duel, both had distinguished themselves by making advances towards the other. Weidel had made a conciliatory statement. “I don’t think there is any reason to be confrontational in any way,” she told the German Press Agency (dpa). Weidel also considered the term “duel” to be too “martial” when told by Bild.

Wagenknecht even elicited a compliment for the AfD politician. “Your speeches in the Bundestag are certainly more entertaining than those of many traffic light politicians,” said the BSW boss, describing her opponent’s fluency. Wagenknecht had also repeatedly emphasized her rejection of an AfD ban procedure. She told the dpa that it was the “stupidest proposal of this year, perhaps the dumbest proposal of this legislature.” Nevertheless, Wagenknecht had announced to the “Frankfurter Rundschau” that she wanted to make it clear to voters what the differences were between the two parties.

She managed this quite well at the beginning of the duel. While both explained their different views on fair economic policy on the first topic of the debate – in line with their party line – moderator Jan Philipp Burgard, editor-in-chief of the station, insisted on confronting Wagenknecht with her left-wing past. “I’m not a communist,” complained the already visibly annoyed BSW boss.

Burgard had already moderated the TV duel between the Thuringian party leaders Mario Voigt (CDU) and Björn Höcke (AfD) in April. At that time, he and “Welt TV” were criticized for giving the fascist Höcke a platform. “We want a boxing ring of democracy,” he replied at the time.

When it came to peace policy, the two politicians showed the usual overlap. Weidel profiled himself as a supporter of Israel and denied any anti-Semitism in his own party. There was no major follow-up from the moderator. Wagenknecht spoke out in favor of a two-state solution in the Middle East to bring about peace, which ended in a short discussion with moderator Burgard. From the sub-point of arms deliveries to Israel, which both reject, the two party leaders moved on to their favorite topic: the war in Ukraine.

“These are AfD positions that we have presented from the beginning.”

Alice WeidelAfD chairwoman

After Wagenknecht had uttered her usual theories about NATO aggression and Putin’s “red line,” Weidel simply jumped on the bandwagon: “These are AfD positions as we have been presenting them from the beginning.”

When it comes to migration, both spoke out in favor of as many deportations as the legal framework allows. Both Weidel and Wagenknecht emphasized that they only wanted to “enforce applicable law.” At least Wagenknecht wants to give able-bodied people with a migration background a chance and criticized the AfD’s racist resentment. She explicitly discussed Björn Höcke and his book “Never twice in the same river” (2018).

Wagenknecht added that she wanted to avoid people like Höcke “getting power in our country.” In doing so, she indirectly rejected cooperation with the AfD at the state level. Nevertheless, the BSW politician emphasized that the AfD is “differentiated” as a party. Weidel had little to say against the car driver, who was talking in a rage. She also awkwardly referred to the left-wing past of the BSW boss and the “extremists in the federal government”. However, she didn’t go beyond desperate self-dramatization.

At the end, the two politicians faced the big guns of journalistic questioning. “Ms. Wagenknecht, on a scale of one to ten, how right-wing do you think Ms. Weidel is?” Moderator Burgard tried to get the BSW boss to assess her opponent. Although the AfD politician had recently put Höcke’s fascism into perspective several times, Wagenknecht was carried away with a very gracious rating of “six out of ten”. Weidel avoided quantifying her opponent with the flattering remark that the BSW boss’s profile was too balanced. Burgard finally ended the TV rant six minutes late.