This is how Chrupalla and Weidel come across on TV talk shows
This weekend, the AfD will confirm its current leadership duo at a party conference in Essen. Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla are the faces of the party. They appear frequently in talk shows.
In mid-July two years ago in Riesa, Saxony, the AfD delegates elected their new federal chairpersons at their party conference. For the first time, Alice Weidel was elected to this position. She has been the parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag for several years. She received 67 percent of the votes. Her colleague seemed less favored by his party friends. Only 53 percent of the delegates voted for him, two percent less than in his weak result three years ago when he was first elected.
In 2022, the AfD consciously decided on a co-chairmanship. However, the delegates also made it clear: This should not last forever. But how it is with provisional arrangements - they last longer than one thinks. At the upcoming AfD party conference in Essen, both Weidel and Chrupalla are expected to stand for re-election as chairpersons. They want to be party chairpersons for another two years. But how have they fared in their television appearances in recent years? Are they suitable for the image of the party that a new network of AfD politicians wishes for?
"Define right-wing extremism"
For a long time, talk show moderators and presenters of political programs did not know how to deal with the AfD. They could not be ignored, as the AfD was represented in the Bundestag and in all state parliaments. But should one expose a partly right-wing extremist party, which the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution classifies as a right-wing extremist suspicion case, to the audience? How the broadcasters ultimately decided is not entirely clear. The fact is: Politicians of the AfD are less frequent guests in talk shows than those of other Bundestag factions. Is it because the AfD is invited less often? Or do AfD members cancel more often? The distrust is mutual on both sides.
However, Tino Chrupalla is a guest that talk show moderators can appreciate. This has not changed in the five years at the top of the AfD. He is friendly, jovial, and open about his private life. He is proud of his vineyard in his hometown of Gablenz, which he gave up at the end of 2020. Chrupalla comes across as down-to-earth and rooted. He loves rural life, as he recently told Caren Miosga on ARD.
But when it gets serious, Chrupalla is a different person. He is strict on party line. He is stingy with suggestions that could further develop his party. When the wind is in his face, and even if it's just a light breeze, he seldom stands in front of his party colleagues. For example, before the European elections, when the air for the two EU co-chairmen was thinning. Or at the beginning of the year. His co-chairwoman Alice Weidel accused the federal government in a Bundestag speech of "hating Germany." Shortly thereafter, Chrupalla was asked about this by Markus Lanz on ZDF. Well, Chrupalla can be heard saying, Weidel's opinion, one can put it that way, it's not legally prohibited, and that's just their style, one should also listen to the politicians of the other parties once in a while. He doesn't say one sentence: "Weidel is right."
In the past November, Chrupalla was once again sitting next to Lanz. He wants to know why hardly anyone from the AfD has expressed themselves in favor of the Hamas terrorists' attack on Israel up until then. Not even the right-wing AfD state leader Bjoern Hocke, who aspires to be Minister-President in Thuringia. "You should ask Mr. Hocke," Chrupalla replied. And that's typical of him: Although he is one of two AfD federal spokespersons, it often gives the impression that Chrupalla cannot really speak for his party and is not particularly interested in other members. The books that Hocke and Krah have written? It seems he doesn't know the content, not even roughly, despite widespread reporting about it. He only responds with platitudes when confronted with questions from Caren Miosga about the party's women's policy a few weeks ago. Chrupalla comes across as unprepared. Unfeminist statements from EU candidate Krah seem unfamiliar to him.
For years, it has been noticeable that Chrupalla becomes nervous quickly when criticism of the AfD arises. He seems unsure, starts to stutter, forgets grammar, and speaks loudly. Clear, well-formulated questions he avoids. "Define right-wing extremist," Chrupalla answered Markus Lanz's question in the past November about whether there are right-wing extremist politicians in the AfD. Above all, with guests who hold different opinions, Chrupalla often does not come across clearly.
However, his TV show blunders do not seem to harm him much. In contrast to his colleague Alice Weidel.
"The Minister of Panics Baerbock"
She rarely appears on TV - there, questions are asked that she must answer. During her appearances in the Bundestag, she is sharp. A few years ago, Weidel announced the end of "political correctness" for herself. If others are politically incorrect, she comes across as very thin-skinned.
She has a favorite topic: migrant women and men. They have to go. She complains that "Minister of Panics Baerbock" not only came home from a visit to Afghanistan with two helpers but that these were also allowed to bring their families.
During her rare TV appearances, she can be quite sympathetic, as her co-leader Chrupalla can be as well. But both have the same goal: that the AfD is elected. Weidel carries this out more professionally. In talk shows, she comes across as well-prepared and less wooden. When it comes to taking on other politicians, she does so. For example, against Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann from the FDP about a year ago on Maischberger in the First. However, in this show, a problem of the politician becomes apparent: when interrupted, she loses her concept and becomes unsure. As shown in the Elephant Roundtable after the European election on ntv, she has worked on herself. She no longer lets herself be interrupted, comes across more self-confident.
Despite her rare TV appearances, Weidel is not afraid of publicity. She has a YouTube channel, posts on Telegram and X. With this, she reaches her followers above all. They do not mind that she often comes across as haughty and arrogant.
Both politicians share the image of being the clean and respectable faces of the AfD. Rene Aust, the new EU spokesman - ranking third on the European list and only thrust into the limelight due to the withdrawals of first and second place - fits well into this party leadership. He can also appear calm and collected. However, he is indeed radical. He is part of the clique around the Thuringia AfD state chairman Hocke, and the Münzenmaier network.
This is a network consisting of young AfD members and is ideologically aligned with the Hocke course, but without the "fat." Münzenmaier's goal: The AfD must come to power. He advocates for the party to lose its "muddy" image - in France, Marine Le Pen and her party were very successful with this "de-demonization" course. The leading politicians should clearly come forward, reassure uncertain voters, and not let the true extremist face of the AfD show only in back rooms.
At the AfD party conference in Essen, it will become clear how well Münzenmaier and Co. are networked. It is clear: Weidel can represent the new image of the AfD. Chrupalla, on the other hand, has weaknesses he cannot shake off. For the Münzenmaier network, Chrupalla is a party leader on loan, according to party insiders. It remains questionable how much time he has left, and whether the "young tamed ones" can transform the AfD into the "party of friendly right-wingers."
- During the upcoming AfD party conference in Essen, Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel are expected to stand for re-election as chairpersons, aiming to lead the party for another two years.
- Despite his friendly and jovial demeanor on talk shows, Chrupalla has shown signs of right-wing extremism, particularly when defending his party's controversial opinions, such as when he Avoided directly endorsing Alice Weidel's harsh criticism of the German government.
- Alice Weidel, on the other hand, has been a frequent guest on talk shows, but her appearances have often been characterized by her thin-skinned response to perceived political incorrectness, such as her criticism of migrant women and men, labeling them as needing to leave Germany.
