Morning Briefing Plus: Eine Hysterie namens CDU
Der Kanzler hat ohne Zweifel viele Fehler gemacht, seine Umfragewerte sind miserabel. Was aber ist mit der Verantwortung der vielen anderen in der CDU? Was tun sie, um die Partei zu retten?
In May, rumors began to circulate about a possible Chancellor change in North Rhine-Westphalia following Hendrik Wüst's trip to Poland. Initially, I dismissed these rumors as mere chatter from Berlin's journalistic bubble. After all, Friedrich Merz had low approval ratings, and the unremarkable meeting of coalition leaders at Villa Borsig still lingered in memory.
But did this automatically mean a Chancellor replacement was inevitable? Not at all. Through conversations with CDU members and party insiders over recent weeks, my assessment has shifted. The most measured criticism of Friedrich Merz was that "he simply cannot." The coldness, disdain, and resignation I heard in the way even close associates of the current Chancellor spoke of him were deeply unsettling.
Perhaps even more concerning was the panic-driven hysteria that permeated this party. How had the once-stately Union suddenly discovered a taste for self-destruction?
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
