display
According to his own statement, the politician and satirist Nico Semsrott has resigned from the party “The Party”.
The reason given by the 34-year-old MEP is the way in which party leader Martin Sonneborn dealt with criticism of a Twitter post that was rated by many as racist online.
The former editor-in-chief of the magazine "Titanic" had defended himself with the reference that it was satire.
“I find his reaction to the criticism wrong and unacceptable.
This has happened to me in other cases in the past, ”said a statement that Semsrott spread on Twitter.
A spokeswoman for the politician confirmed the exit to WELT.
The background is, among other things, a now deleted tweet by Sonneborn from last week.
Here you will find content from Twitter
In order to interact with or display content from Twitter and other social networks, we need your consent.
Activate social networks
I consent to content from social networks being displayed to me.
This allows personal data to be transmitted to third party providers.
This may require the storage of cookies on your device.
More information can be found here.
There the party leader could be seen with a T-shirt whose writing suggests that Asians cannot pronounce an R.
Quite a few users stated that they felt racially offended.
Sonneborn followed up with another tweet showing a cover of the "Titanic".
He wrote: “So, now please discuss what satire should & should, please don't forget the limits.
Note: the first access ("Wah! Racism!") Is often not the best. "
Here you will find content from Twitter
In order to interact with or display content from Twitter and other social networks, we need your consent.
Activate social networks
I consent to content from social networks being displayed to me.
This allows personal data to be transmitted to third party providers.
This may require the storage of cookies on your device.
More information can be found here.
display
Semsrott was elected to the European Parliament in 2019 on the list of "The Party".
Unlike Sonneborn, who sits as a non-attached member of the EU Parliament, he has joined the Green Group.
Semsrott accused Sonneborn of "ignorant handling of feedback".
“If people feel racially attacked by his postings, he doesn't have to do much.
Compassion and respect for those affected are enough to correct your own behavior. "
If he could not give criticism a space, ignore the social context, "insults exploits his position of power as soon as those affected defend themselves against insults" and emphasizes that "others are just too stupid to understand his art", he should go, "Because he has fallen out of time and is in the wrong place".
A few days ago he asked Sonneborn to apologize, wrote Semsrott.
“He didn't do it.
So that's not an accident, he clearly wants it that way. "
In the public perception, however, “the party” is primarily Sonneborn's project.
He doesn't want to give his face away for that, said Semsrott.
However, he will keep his mandate as MEP.