Is Frank Deja an interpreter or a political activist?

PI-NEWS Is Frank Deja an interpreter or a political activist? January 22, 2025 "It's very unpleasant that his chatter is running through my system," says Trump translator Frank Deja. By MEINRAD MÜLLER | There are moments that stay in your memory forever - and then there are moments that you would rather forget. For the public broadcaster Phoenix, January 20, 2025 was such a day. Because on the occasion of Donald Trump's inauguration, the Cologne simultaneous translator Frank Deja made an unbelievable lapse in front of millions of viewers. "How long are you going to stick with this crap?!" he yelled in the middle of the live broadcast of Trump's speech. The translator was obviously annoyed by what was happening: "I thought I had pressed the throat button that muted me. In fact, I hit a different button - without noticing it." Deja said sheepishly in an interview with STERN that he was very embarrassed and "of course very unprofessional" and that it simply shouldn't happen. Deja makes no secret of his dislike of Trump Frank Deja was also the German voice of Donald Trump in the first TV debate against Kamala Harris before the US elections and then ranted in a WDR interview: "With Trump, to be honest, preparing for a TV debate like this isn't that difficult because of his limited vocabulary and limited store of ideas. He rarely finishes a sentence because he comes up with an absurd statement in the middle of the sentence or thinks of someone he hasn't insulted yet. It's very unpleasant that his chatter is running through my system." Deja's shouted sentence - "How long are you going to stick with this crap?!" - was not a slip of the tongue, but a revealing moment. This was not a neutral translator speaking, but an ideologically charged activist who could no longer hide his contempt. Biased translation? This means that the credibility of public broadcasting is once again being put to the test. Anyone who cannot work neutrally should not collect tax money. And anyone who wants to spread political opinion should found a party - not sit at the interpreter's desk. But this faux pas raises a much bigger question: Did the simultaneous translator even correctly reproduce Trump's speech? Or did his green-left personal ideas already flow into the translation? Because simultaneous translators normally have perfect command of their craft: they hear the original with one ear and their own translation with the other. But if someone is so obviously annoyed - how objective can their work still be? Phoenix in need of an explanation The responsible broadcaster Phoenix is ​​now embarrassedly silent. No official statement, not a word of apology. But that is exactly what is needed now. After all, the mask of alleged neutrality was completely dropped here - during a historic speech of all things. What remains is not only an embarrassment for Phoenix, but a tangible loss of credibility for the public media as a whole. Because if even translators show obvious political disgust in their work - how objective is the entire broadcaster? Anyone who wanted to hear Trump's speech without bias had no chance that day, at least not as a compulsory license fee payer.