Because CDU leader Friedrich Merz is canceling his participation in a discussion event, US Senator and Trump fan Lindsey Graham is canceling his meeting with Merz. Conservatives should “not cancel each other,” the senator said.
A planned event of the “Transatlantic Forum” causes a stir in the CDU. The chairman Friedrich Merz was also scheduled there, but he has now canceled his participation. Reason: The other participants in the panel are (too) close to the AfD. The event was planned by the right-wing conservative agency “The Republic”.
For example, a representative of the US gun lobby, the lawyer Joachim Steinhöfel, who represents the AfD, and the publicist Henryk M. Broder were to speak there. And Trump fan and US Senator Lindsey Graham. Merz wanted to continue to meet with him privately despite the cancellation of the discussion round.
But nothing will come of it, because Graham has now canceled the meeting with Merz. “Conservatives are about open, honest dialogue, where points are made and people sit down and listen to each other,” Graham said.
The US politician criticized: Conservatives would “not cancel each other before they speak.”
Merz might not have had to cancel himself. The Baden-Württemberg state representation in Berlin had previously announced that the event would no longer be held on its premises. “After the organizer named the other speakers of the “Transatlantic Forum” on August 31, we will withdraw from the rental agreement and not allow the event to take place here,” the state representation tweeted on Tuesday.
“The speakers now mentioned are very close to the AfD. The event is therefore likely to damage the reputation of the state representation.”
So now neither the event nor the meeting of Merz and Graham takes place. Merz’s cancellation is not only met with incomprehension by Graham, other right-wing conservatives in the USA are also criticizing the CDU leader. For example, the former US ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, tweeted that the “head of the German conservatives” would bow to the “woken mob”.
And further: “The intolerant left around the world cannot sit down and hear dissenting voices. They exclude anyone they disagree with.”
