Markus Lanz does not moderate his ZDF talk, he discusses it himself. And repeatedly attacks the climate activist Luisa Neubauer.
What is the job of a good moderator? The translation of the Latin word has several meanings: “moderate”, “ruler”, “manipulator”, but also “governor”. Derived from the verb “moderare” it is supposed to “hold in check” and “regulate” a conversation. Markus Lanz is not all of that in his ZDF talk show late Tuesday evening. After his repeated, massive – substantive – attacks against the 26-year-old climate activist Luise Neubauer (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), even the conservative ex-Federal Interior Minister Dr. jur Thomas de Maizière (CDU): “I find it interesting that our moderator has become a participant in the discussion.” And turning to Luise Neubauer, he says comfortingly: “I’ve been grilled here before.”
While journalist Anja Maier and sociologist Prof. Dr. Matthias Quent, despite different views on the topics of war, climate and nuclear power, always accommodating to Luise Neubauer, as a moderator should do, the host has formally referred to one of the main organizers in this country of Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg – in a nutshell known as Greta Thunberg – inspired “Fridays for Future” school strikes. Luise Neubauer advocates a climate policy that is compatible with the Paris Agreement and is campaigning for Germany to phase out coal by 2030. As a member of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen and Grüner Jugend, she is also involved in various non-governmental organizations. All of this seems to be a thorn in Markus Lanz’s side this time.
The guests at Markus Lanz on October 18th
| Anya Maier | Journalist (including FOCUS) |
| dr jur Thomas de Maiziere | Ex-Federal Minister of the Interior (CDU) |
| Luisa Neubauer | Climate activist (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) |
| Prof. Dr. Matthew Quent | Sociologist (Magdeburg-Stendal University) |
Markus Lanz hands out against Luisa Neubauer
Again and again he urges the young woman to judge her notorious Swedish companion. She had recently advocated leaving the existing German nuclear power plants connected to the grid during the energy crisis instead of relying on coal-fired power generation, for which she even received euphoric praise from Minister of Justice Dr. Marco Buschmann and his FDP received. This, in turn, drives Luise Neubauer up the wall: “A bit of a lie,” she finds and is amazed at the yellow traffic light party: “No one needs that from the people …” Previously, the 19-year-old Swede, whose middle name was “Tintin ‘ represents a homage by her parents to Hergé’s immortal comic heroes ‘Tim and Struppi’, which has been repeatedly discredited by the Liberals and the Union. Luise Neubauer describes it as “hypocritical” to pick out a sentence that fits your own program.
Finally, she takes a stand on Thunberg’s nuclear power plant statement: “Theoretically, everything is correct about it. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change sees it that way.” Markus Lanz, who generally likes to hand things out more or less skilfully on his show, is now particularly clearly on a confrontational course with Luise Neubauer. Above all, he mocks the criticism of the supposed pseudo-nuclear debate. “I have to fight back, even as a citizen of this country,” says the South Tyrolean, who also has a German passport, outraged: “That’s no halligalli!” It’s about existential questions like “Germany as an industrial location.” Luise is slowly getting it Neubauer too much: “Sometimes I feel like I’m in a parallel universe!” She accuses Markus Lanz of downright “boycotting” the important debates about the energy crisis with what she considers to be superficial discussions about nuclear energy: “Nuclear power can in Germany not solve our energy crisis, nor the shortages.”
Markus Lanz puts Luisa Neubauer under pressure
Interestingly, Matthias Quent, extremism researcher from the Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences, also sees a “pseudo discourse” in relation to the dispute over the operation of the nuclear power plant, which contributes to polarization and ultimately to political alienation. He accuses the federal government of neglecting the issue of justice in today’s crisis. The richest 10 percent of the population would use as much energy as the bottom 40 percent. Thomas de Maizière also understands Luise Neubauer, who was put under a lot of pressure by Markus Lanz: “The accumulation of crises has shown that we cannot continue like this.”
However, he sees the solution in a fundamental reform of the state and better crisis management with more powers for the federal government: “We need a national security council and a crisis team from the federal and state governments!” But democratic changes would take time. But they all take much too long for Luise Neubauer: “We are running against the clock. We don’t have the choice between time and democracy.” She is absolutely right about that, because we already have the energy crisis caused by the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. That’s why she says: “Uranium means to encourage Putin.” Matthias Quent agrees: “Democracy must be much more effective and faster.”
Statements like these are “too pathetic” for Focus political reporter Anja Maier. She puts it casually in a nutshell: “I think all the time: Where’s the answer if the booth stays cold?” However, she thinks it’s totally fine: “I was young once, too. Sometimes you have to be a little uncomfortable. We can take it,” she says almost motherly in the direction of Luise Neubauer. While the previously recorded program was still being broadcast, she posted a tweet: “We want climate protection because we need civil protection. Going from one very dangerous energy, coal, to another very dangerous energy, nuclear, in no way reflects what drives me to be an activist.”
Luisa Neubauer annoyed by Markus Lanz
Markus Lanz’s somewhat hypocritical hint not to take his attacks against her personally, bounced off her: “I don’t know what you want from me!” groans Luise Neubauer, who was open several times in the second part of the heated discussion Advertising for her book “Against the powerlessness: My grandmother, politics and I”, written together with her almost 90-year-old grandmother Dagmar Reemtsma. Oddly enough, Markus Lanz has nothing against that. “Nice book!” He praises the double biography after having approached it so vigorously just now. In these moments you can neither take him nor his show very seriously. (Marc Hairapetian)
