Party colleagues draw a comparison with Pegida in view of the disruption of an SWR live switch by a CDU city council.
They demand consequences, but without success.
Mannheim - The CDU does not get out of the negative headlines.
This does not only apply to the federal level, where the party tries to explain the poor result of the federal election.
This also applies to the municipal level.
The Mannheim CDU city councilor Thomas Hornung caused a veritable scandal when he intervened in a live TV channel on the SWR on Friday evening (October 18) during the Mannheim CDU district party conference.
The CDU and the SWR live switch scandal: "Up until now we only knew about Pegida demonstrations"
This should not remain without consequences for the Hornung. Because there are the first voices from the CDU calling for his withdrawal from the party. The CDU state parliament members Tim Bückner from Schwäbisch Gmünd and Winfried Mack from Aalen called on the former office manager of the former Mannheim district chairman Nikolas Löbel to leave the party.
"There are red lines that are not compatible with membership in a democratic party like the CDU," said Bückner of the
German press agency
.
Instead of showing humility and modesty, Hornung restricted the freedom of the press.
“Such attacks don't always have to be physical,” Bückner continued.
“And that was a scene that was previously only known from Pegida demonstrations.” It is important to prevent such behavior “before it sets the scene”.
The CDU and the SWR live switch scandal: the polluter does not want to draw any consequences
The SPD General Secretary Sascha Binder in Baden-Württemberg had previously asked the CDU to apologize to the reporter and the SWR.
It is unacceptable if a journalist is hindered in her work at a CDU event in the presence of the State Secretary-General Isabell Huber.
“We only knew that from AfD events,” said Binder on Saturday in Freiburg.
Hornung has meanwhile rejected his party’s demands to leave.
"I have no reason to quit," said the
German press agency
on Monday.
His behavior is "situational" and can be traced back to professional deficiencies in the SWR team.
These are exemplary of the “eroding credibility” of public service broadcasting.
The CDU and the SWR live scandal: broadcaster defends reporter
What happened?
Hornung intervened in the live contribution of SWR reporter Natalie Akbari until both were asked to leave the hall and Akbari broke off the switch.
While he later defended his approach, the SWR reproached him.
The event was assigned to the reporter by the organizer.
The reason why Hornung lost his temper is probably that one topic of the district party conference was a mask affair, in which commissions of around 250,000 euros went to a company of his former boss Löbel.
The company is said to have collected the money because it brokered purchase contracts for corona protective masks between a Baden-Württemberg supplier and two private companies in Heidelberg and Mannheim.
After severe criticism, Löbel resigned from the CDU and withdrew from parliament.