Students from "more left-wing universities" in the audience - CDU and FDP are outraged at ZDF

WELT Students from "more left-wing universities" in the audience - CDU and FDP are outraged at ZDF 1 hour • 2 minutes reading time On the ZDF program "Schlagabtausch", the statements of a Green and a Left politician always receive loud applause. A ZDF journalist explains the composition of the audience afterwards, and the broadcaster regrets "too one-sided reactions". ZDF presenter Andreas Wunn spoke to politicians from six parties The composition of the audience on the ZDF program "Schlagabtausch" on Thursday evening caused a stir among the candidates during the television debate: When the viewers loudly applauded after a reply from Green Party leader Felix Banaszak, FDP leader Christian Lindner mocked: "Green youth". In addition to Lindner and Banaszak, Left Party politician Jan van Aken, AfD leader Tino Chrupalla, BSW leader Sahra Wagenknecht and CSU politician Alexander Dobrindt were also invited to the TV debate of the smaller parties. Even when the politicians were welcomed, it was noticeable that only Banaszak and van Aken were applauded. After the broadcast, ZDF capital correspondent Dominik Rzepka described a counterattack by van Aken to interjections by AfD politician Chrupalla (“Now hold your right wing”), which provoked applause. “You can say that there were a relatively large number of viewers from the HU Berlin and the FU Berlin in the audience. These are two more left-wing universities here in Berlin, which were specially written to and invited. There were also some from the Hertie School of Governance in the audience, for example.” In this sense, the audience was not representative. FDP and CDU criticize ZDF - broadcaster regrets audience reactions The FDP member of parliament Gerald Ullrich accused ZDF of deliberately "distorting public opinion". "Why, dear ZDF, aren't trainees from vocational schools invited as an audience, why only students from left-wing universities?" he asked X. The CDU member of parliament Jan-Marco Luczak attacked ZDF even more harshly: The audience was "one-sidedly left-green", he wrote. "This is an intervention in the election campaign and unacceptable!" When asked by the "Bild" newspaper, ZDF described the composition of the audience somewhat differently than reporter Rzepka. Interested citizens could have applied to be on the show, and 127 people were guests. You can apply for a variety of shows on the broadcaster's website. The ZDF also said: "With such shows without direct audience participation, this usually results in a balanced distribution. Political views are not asked. We regret that one-sided reactions occurred during the broadcast. However, the editorial team was unable to influence this during the broadcast."