Jan Josef Liefers does not want to understand at Maybrit Illner (ZDF) what is wrong with the #allesdichtmachen campaign. At least Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim brings some rationality to the show.
“Freedom, solidarity, contradiction – is Corona dividing the country?”: Maybrit Illner’s talk show on ZDF on Thursday evening (April 29th, 2021) was dedicated to the questionable campaign #allesdichtmachen, with which some well-known German actors: in a video last week -Clip expressed cynical about the German Corona measures – flat propaganda that led to applause from AfD, “lateral thinkers” and corona deniers turned to the far right.
The most bitter were the cynical words in the video clip about #allesdichtmachen but for the medical staff in Germany, who have been working at the limits of resilience and beyond for more than a year. Many of the actors involved finally distanced themselves from the action.
Jan Josef Liefers at Maybrit Illner (ZDF) lost
Jan Josef Liefers, one of the most prominent protagonists of this campaign #allesdichtmachen, Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim, science journalist, Hamburg’s First Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD), FDP politician Wolfgang Kubicki and the Mayor of Tübingen Boris Palmer (theoretically with the Greens).
Liefers now wants to make it clear what he wants to achieve with the action. But he can’t really explain that with Illner either. “What message did you actually want to send out?” He is asked several times, but he does not give an answer. But Liefers is surprised that the campaign was “taken personally” – maybe he should watch his own clip again. Namely in the role – after all, the man is an actor – of a person who has lost a loved one to Corona.
The applause from the right corner doesn’t really bother Liefers either, because two plus two remain four, even if an AfD man comes to the same statement, according to Liefers. Overall, the remaining attempts by Liefers to explain the action remained simply unpleasant, out of place and half informed.
| Guests at Maybrit Illner (ZDF) | |
| Jan Josef Liefers | Actors, # seal it all up |
| Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim | Science journalist, chemist |
| Wolfgang Kubicki | Vice-President of the Bundestag, Deputy FDP Chairman, lawyer |
| Peter Tschentscher | First Mayor of Hamburg, physician |
| Boris Palmer | Lord Mayor of Tübingen |
Maybrit Illner (ZDF): Kubicki and Palmer do not contribute anything useful
Boris Palmer thinks it is “great what these artists have dared to do”. Trust is the real keyword here, because it is by no means a courageous achievement when rich, successful people make unreflective and selfish statements and then face the corresponding headwind. But Palmer must of course see this as a heroic act, after all, that’s his specialty. Because he immediately tells of the fact that he knows what it is like to be in a shit storm: “I won’t let myself be pushed away.” Fine. Wolfgang Kubicki makes a few more neoliberal noises and then everyone who has not contributed anything fruitful to the debate has their say.
At least Peter Tschentscher recognizes the misunderstanding of the message from Liefers’ video. Tschentscher speaks pictorially of the gasoline-laden air in the pandemic, to which Liefers and colleagues held a “match”. And then he finally mentions the nursing staff and what they feel with such a video. SPD politicians call it “a failure”.
Maybrit Illner (ZDF): Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim brings rationality to the show
“Very unhappy”, says Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim, too, and tries to remain polite. “Of course that divides a society,” she says and criticizes Liefers’ steadfast stubborn opinion that the type of video, precisely this polarization, was just right to attract attention: “We reward those who shout the loudest in the media” so Nguyen-Kim. With all her understanding of Liefers’ motivation, she would generally not do something like that, “maybe I’m too much of a scientist, but also because I’m aware of this responsibility. What if I support something that I haven’t thought through. “
The science journalist emphasized that Jan Josef Liefers should have been more aware of his narrative, which plays right-wing positions and “lateral thinkers”: “As a popular actor, you also have an influence”. Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim explains that she could have told Liefers straight away that such a cynical-satirical video could easily be captured. The video has the “sound of those who despise democracy”, as Illner aptly calls it. Of course, Liefers doesn’t see it that way. It’s hard to have a fruitful discussion of debate and contradiction when the arsonist’s head is in the sand. (Sonja Thomaser)
