SPD politician Fiedler accuses the AfD of being a door opener for Putin and criticizes the harsh tone in the Bundestag

Fiedler does not want to leave his criticism of the harsher tone in the Bundestag as a general matter. He takes Brandner as a concrete example and refers to his numerous regulatory measures. According to Fiedler's accusation, Brandner is "at the very top" among MPs who behave particularly "foully" in the debates. Brandner then angrily attacked Bundestag President Julia Klöckner and accused her of "absolutely partisan leadership": "She wanted to throw us out of the hall. She somehow seems to want to do that every time now."

Moderator Maischberger then presents Fiedler with a survey from Infratest: 65 percent of voters who believe they are in a poor financial situation voted for the AfD in this election. “What did you do wrong to lose this group of voters?” she asks the SPD politician.

Fiedler initially finds a remarkably open answer to the uncomfortable question: “Certainly a lot” his party did wrong. But after that it hardly becomes concrete. Instead of talking about his own political mistakes, the SPD domestic politician mainly talks about Telegram, social networks and the emotionalization of the AfD election campaign. Voters' media use becomes an additional explanation - without Fiedler actually answering the central question.

Brandner has a more direct answer to this. The SPD used to have “real contact with the workers,” said Brandner. It has now developed into a “left-woke, crazy party that can no longer be distinguished from the Left or the Greens.”

Fiedler rejects this as an “expected classic”. "If I should have written something down before the show, that's exactly what I would have written down. They're trying to set up a story that isn't actually happening." In his opinion, Brandner shortens complex economic and global connections to just such stories. What is noteworthy is Fiedler's accusation that the AfD deliberately produces short, pointed speeches that can be easily distributed on YouTube and other platforms. At the same time, he accuses the party of promising things even though it knows that it cannot fully realize them politically or legally.

SPD politician Fiedler sees the AfD government as a “door-opener problem for Putin”

In the further exchange of blows, Fiedler addresses the security concerns regarding the AfD. “The biggest risk that comes from you, Mr. Brandner, and you have to be told this, is that you play a significant, major role in the Putin system.” He explicitly says that Putin is not only waging a war with weapons, but also an “information war in virtual space” from which the party benefits. Fiedler speaks of a possible “door-opening problem for Putin” if the AfD takes over government responsibility in Saxony-Anhalt.

Brandner initially lacks a concrete answer. Maischberger therefore digs deeper - and translates the abstract warning into a concrete scenario: How would Germany have to deal with Russia if it turns out that Moscow is behind an attempted attack in Leipzig? Brandner speaks of “consequences”, but does not name any. Instead, he refers to Nord Stream and Ukraine. Maischberger asks several times until an almost desperate moderator has to realize: "Can I just point out that you are avoiding the question? And then we'll just leave it at that." Brandner couldn't get any more clarity on this point.

In the further course, Maischberger takes up the term “culturally alien people”, which apparently appears in connection with “remigration” in the AfD program and in the positions represented by Brandner. She demands an explanation: Who is actually considered “foreign to culture” by the AfD?