“Arrogant” and “shot”: “Hard but fair” round tears Laschet apart - until even Künast feels sorry for him

The Union lost the election.

Now the criticism of Armin Laschet is great - also with "Hart aber Fair".

The round also reveals major problems for the Scholz-SPD.

Berlin - In Frank Plasberg's “Hard but fair” talk on Monday there was of course only one topic: the federal election and the coalition poker that was already beginning.

But instead of “After the election - before the power poker?” The round could also have been called “All against Armin”.

Union chancellor candidate Armin Laschet got his fat off after the election debacle the previous evening.

Plasberg quickly released the talk stage for verbal fire on Laschet.

Sharp criticism comes even from within the ranks of the Union.

Young Union boss Tilman Kuban leaves no doubt, at least when asked, that for him the loss of the Union votes is clearly related to the election of the candidate.

Armin Laschet on “Hart aber fair” in the crossfire: Kuban becomes clear - “We lost the election.

Point."

The mandate to form a government is now clearly with the SPD, said Kuban. A failure of the traffic light alone would still be an option for Laschet. Kuban: “We lost the election. Point". The tweet of the Rhineland-Palatinate CDU member of the state parliament, Ellen Demuth, read by the moderator: "I found Laschet's appearance ignorant and lacking in empathy towards the many who fought hard and have now lost their mandates - because of him."

In an email to the Plasberg editorial team, Demuth, who was one of the supporters of Norbert Röttgens in the struggle for the CDU chairmanship, gave air to her frustration in further lines.

The moderator also reads them with a certain amount of relish.

In relation to Laschet's appearance on election evening, Demuth said: “I had physical pain while watching.

Apparently he doesn't care.

He has been voted out.

To put yourself up like that, so puffy and grumpy, that's a slap in the face. " 

"Hard but fair" - these guests discussed with:

• Tilman Kuban (CDU)

  - Federal Chairman of the Junge Union

• Kevin Kühnert (SPD)

  - Deputy Party Chairman

• Alexander Graf Lambsdorff (FDP)

  - deputy parliamentary group chairman

• Renate Künast (Alliance '90 / The Greens)

  - Member of the Bundestag

• Sascha Lobo

  -

  Spiegel

  columnist and author

• Mariam Lau

  -

  Zeit

  -politics editor

Even

time

-Journalistin Mariam Lau certifies that the CDU "bled and empty" is.

She refers to Armin Laschet's speech on election evening, in which he had announced his party's government mandate.

Plasberg comments on the statement as "unrealistic", the journalist finds that Laschet's position is simply "arrogant".

With so much fundamental criticism, FDP parliamentary group vice-president Alexander Graf Lambsdorff feels called upon to take at least a little party for the CDU. Laschet and Scholz are measured differently, he says, "there are two percentage points between the two parties," emphasizes Lambsdorff. And it is not the case that the 26 percent of the SPD had catapulted Olaf Scholz into "dizzying heights".

Also the former Green Minister Renate Künast has at least a little need to defend Laschet.

In her reply to criticism of the Greens election campaign, she also attests to the unfair treatment of the CDU boss.

How Laschet was dealt with, including in the children's interviews, she found “really humiliating”.

In the election campaign, border crossings happened that would have harmed democracy as a whole, says Künast, also with a view to the hatspeech problem.

Kühnert sees a split party in the CDU and the SPD for "sorted"

The Juso Vice Kevin Kühnert is also straightening out the election result: “The 26 percent are a great result for us, but it's not an absolute majority.” In contrast to the CDU, however, he sees the advantage that the SPD is “a well-organized party” - in terms of content and personnel.

The Union - with the blatantly displayed internal party disputes - looks different at the moment.

Journalist Sascha Lobo agrees: "I no longer believe at all that Armin Laschet is even remotely capable of forming a stable government."

Laschet was "shot every minute".

The Union's candidate for chancellor simply failed and failed “as hard as possible”.

Kevin Kühnert and Graf Lambsdorff get into an argument about the property tax

A comment by Kevin Kühnert, which Plasberg fades in, showed that the coalition negotiations with the Greens and FDP will not be a sure-fire success for the SPD. In it, the social democrat had called the possible next finance minister of the coming federal government an "Luftikus" whose financial concept lacks seriousness. Kühnert meekly registers this as an “election campaign” and makes it clear that for him it is now a question of “whether one can somehow get closer”.

Count Lambsdorff also sees it this way: “In terms of substance, we actually have a different approach,” he states - and begins with fundamental considerations on the differences between liberal free spirit and belief in the state. “By relieving the burden and stimulating private investments, we want to ensure that the tax volume grows sustainably.” The two of them quickly engage in a heated exchange of blows regarding the wealth tax demanded by the SPD and the Greens.

Renate Künast, too, who tries very hard to “look ahead” on the show, has to admit that the differences to the FDP are numerous.

But the need of the hour is now to first sound out where the similarities lie.

And Künast also formulates the concern that the necessary state investments for education, digitization and climate protection measures with the FDP could be neglected.

Plasberg still wants to know from the Green woman whether the man would come after “the woman after all” - true to the studio setting that Habeck and Lindner are already showing together with Scholz.

“Robert Habeck as Vice Chancellor?” Plasberg continues.

Künast replies coolly: "I don't know anything about that."

Conclusion of the “hard but fair” talk

A little more neutrality would not have looked bad on presenter Frank Plasberg.

The sometimes harsh criticism of Laschet was given a lot of space, which sometimes seemed almost scornful and at the expense of the content.