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Opponents Voigt, Höcke

Photo:

Martin Schutt / picture alliance / dpa

Thuringia's CDU leading candidate Mario Voigt wants to have a TV duel with AfD leader Björn Höcke.

Many people find this wrong, not just people from the left.

Reiner Haseloff, CDU Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt, told "Zeit": "I wouldn't want to give this party a platform." That the broadcaster "Welt TV" scheduled the duel for April 11th, the anniversary of the liberation of the Some people find the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora concentration camps particularly bad.

I have no doubt that Höcke is a terrible man.

His Nazi language, his racism and his contempt for democracy have been documented and described countless times.

However, this did not prevent Höcke and his AfD from becoming increasingly popular.

According to surveys, more than 30 percent of Thuringians would currently vote for the AfD.

Talking about Höcke, but not with him, obviously doesn't work as a defense strategy for the other parties.

It is therefore right for Voigt to try a different approach.

What does he have to lose?

The criticism that Voigt offers Höcke a platform is wrong because Höcke doesn't need another platform.

The AfD dominates social media.

If the traditional media no longer reported a single word about Höcke, he would still get through with his messages.

Is Voigt unnecessarily adding value to Höcke by discussing things with him?

On the contrary.

I think the other parties and many media outlets are making life easy for Höcke by not talking to him.

He never has to explain himself, and he never comes under pressure to argue.

He spreads his theories undisturbed on TikTok and Facebook, which is what the politician's paradise must be like.

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Björn Höcke

Photo: Martin Schutt/dpa

Some are against the TV duel because they think Höcke is too dangerous.

He is rhetorically clever, an unscrupulous twister of facts and thus convinces simple-minded viewers.

Behind this criticism lies paternalism and a pessimistic view of humanity.

Anyone who thinks voters are too stupid and doesn't believe in the power of arguments may themselves have a disturbed relationship with democracy.

According to surveys, the CDU is the only party that can prevent the AfD from soon becoming the strongest faction in Thuringia.

The other parties don't have to support them, but it would be fair if they stopped lumping the CDU and AfD together.

The TV duel does not initially break any taboos or tear down any firewalls.

Voigt has the chance to show that there is a line between conservative and right-wing extremist.

Survey king Höcke is the one of the two who has something to lose.

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Mario Voigt

Photo: Hendrik Schmidt / dpa

Voigt could ask Höcke whether he also considers the concentration camp memorial in Buchenwald to be a "monument of shame," as he already said about the Holocaust memorial in Berlin.

Or whether Höcke would like to repeat his call for a “180 degree turnaround in remembrance policy” on the day of the concentration camp liberation.

April 11th is the ideal date for this.