Summer interview: Merz downplays failed judicial election and speaks of “conspiracy theories”

Chancellor Friedrich Merz hasn't even been in office for 100 days – and things are already going steeply downhill. Newspaper headlines this weekend read "Chancellor in Crisis" or "Traffic Light 2.0." In an ARD summer interview, Merz refuses to hear of it: "It's not a crisis. Democracy in Germany is alive." A failed judicial election, criticism from within his own ranks, and the accusation that Merz is a foreign chancellor who barely cares about his own country – all of this isn't so bad.

For Friedrich Merz not only "started with self-confidence," as ARD presenter Markus Preiß says at the beginning of the interview. Criticism of him seems to continue to roll off his back. He appears demonstratively calm for a chancellor whose leadership style is suddenly being questioned. "That's no big deal," the chancellor commented on the failed election of judges. The fact that not even his own coalition stood by him and heeded his call to elect the controversial candidate, Frauke Borsius-Gersdorf, is something the chancellor ignores.

The public outcry? From the Chancellor's perspective, exaggerated.

"You can't give orders from above to members of parliament," Merz says. Such an election is a "decision of conscience," and it will remain that way. And what will happen after the summer recess? The Chancellor remains vague. "We will discuss it." Over the next ten minutes, the moderator repeats his question, and Merz repeats his answer. A back-and-forth without taking a substantive position.

For him, it's not all that bad. The public outcry? In his view, it's exaggerated. "The whole thing isn't dramatic," says the Chancellor. Most people are only following the events peripherally anyway. The topic of judicial elections hardly interests the general public. There's a lot of nonsense circulating on social media anyway, with talk of "conspiracy theories."

Yes, the whole thing turned out badly, but that's what "political normality" looks like these days: "I predict to you, Mr. Preiß, that things will remain difficult." Merz intends to stick with parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn , who, according to his many critics, bears the blame for the judicial election mess. "Is Jens Spahn the right man?" asks Preiß. Merz answers without hesitation: "Definitely yes."

But not everything can be soberly moderated away. A quote from Peter Müller, former constitutional court judge and party colleague, is shown. After the judicial election debacle, he spoke of a "blatant leadership failure" by the CDU/CSU. Merz again evades the issue. Instead of leadership debates, he prefers to count successes. The coalition is working quickly and effectively, and the cooperation with SPD leader Lars Klingbeil is running smoothly. Nevertheless, the Chancellor has to admit: "This is not a love match. This is a working coalition."

Merz 2024: Public dispute is “poison” for any cooperation

A year earlier, in July 2024, Friedrich Merz was still the leader of the opposition, appearing at the Summer Interview. Even then, Markus Preiß asked how a future Chancellor Merz would deal with the increasing fragmentation of the party system. Merz was resolute: He wanted only one coalition partner and was committed to "willingness to compromise," "leadership," and a government that resolves its conflicts behind closed doors.

Public disputes, Merz said in 2024, are "poison" for any cooperation. "Once such a poison of mistrust is in a group, there's no way out." The current Chancellor is not confronted with these statements a year later.

After Preiß spent half of the summer interview asking about the judicial election, there's still time for the AfD. He wants to know whether the CDU/CSU is "falling for" the Alternative for Germany (AfD). "We won't make ourselves dependent on this AfD." Merz adds: "That doesn't mean that we vote with one side or the other in parliament." Does that mean voting with the AfD, as in February? The Chancellor leaves open what that means specifically, and Preiß doesn't ask.