Center-right and center-left chancellor candidates clashed in a fiery debate, exposing deep divisions just weeks ahead of a national election.
BERLIN — With just two weeks until Germany heads to the polls, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and conservative frontrunner Friedrich Merz tore into each other over migration, the economy and how to handle U.S. President Donald Trump in a combative debate on national television Sunday night.
“How dumb can someone be?” Scholz asked at one point, attacking Merz for vowing to turn away asylum seekers at Germany’s border — a move, he argued, that would violate EU law and divide Europe at a time when Germany needs European solidarity to counter Trump’s tariff threats.
But when Scholz claimed his government had successfully cracked down on abuses in the asylum system, Merz shot back.
“You don’t live on this planet,” he retorted. “What you’re saying is a fairy tale.”
The clash came against the backdrop of a political firestorm over Merz’s decision to try to use votes from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) to push tough immigration proposals through the Bundestag.
The move weakened Germany’s long-standing “firewall” against the far right, in place since World War II. Scholz seized on the controversy to warn that Merz was normalizing the far right. “I seriously fear you would consider a coalition with the AfD after the election,” he said.
Merz denied the charge: “It will not happen,” he said.
Later in the debate, Merz blamed Scholz’s left-leaning government for enabling the sharp rise of the AfD in polls. “This is a serious threat to our democracy,” Merz said. The AfD “must become smaller again, and Mr. Scholz, together with the Greens, has tried to create a left-wing policy in Germany. There has long been no majority for left-wing politics in this country.”
The debate also laid bare stark differences on economic policy. With Germany battling an economic contraction and an energy crunch, Merz accused Scholz of failing to shield the country from economic decline.
Scholz, in turn, blamed external shocks: “I’m not the one who invaded Ukraine, I’m not the one who stopped gas deliveries — that was [Russian President Vladimir] Putin.”
Merz snapped back, criticising Scholz’s decision to close three nuclear plants: “Then why in God’s name did you end nuclear energy?”
Scholz countered that restarting reactors — an option conservatives have said they will explore — would cost €40 billion.