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In the program "phoenix persönlich" Jörg Thadeusz speaks with Oliver Welke, author and satirist, about his life in Bonn, the "heute-show" and his view of politics. "It may not come across sufficiently in the program, but I have the greatest respect for every single parliamentarian," says Oliver Welke, presenter of the "heute-show". "Even for ministries, for state secretaries and especially for the chancellor," Welke continues. "It is simply an absurd, murderous workload. That is why I am so sorry that in the general shouting about "those at the top" it is completely lost that they are the last people who can be accused of enriching themselves and doing nothing about it." In the satirical "heute-show", which has been shown on Friday evenings on ZDF for 15 years now, they "definitely lash out in all directions," explains Welke. "I can only tell you that Robert Habeck has not spoken a word to us for many months. So, when our reporters were outside, he kept running. He did the same thing in a similar way to how some Union politicians, namely Friedrich Merz, have now made it their masterpiece to run away from us." As with every satirical show, in the last three years on the "heute-show" "the parties currently in power have received a higher percentage of votes than the opposition parties, including the AfD. But of course I cannot pretend that the AfD is a completely normal party for reasons of parity. That's not possible." With regard to dealing with the AfD, Welke explains: "Topics like the AfD, which are and will continue to be recurring, at some point you have to acknowledge that you yourself - and this is not just a criticism of politics - have left it at that, just saying, 'Be careful, they are very right-wing!'" The exciting phenomenon, says Welke, referring to the parliamentary elections in Austria, is "that we have two parties, especially in Austria, with the FPÖ and AfD, in the German-speaking region of all places, that, contrary to the trend in Europe, no longer have to try to appear more moderate, but are successful by becoming more radical. In the German-speaking region of all places. I don't have an answer to that either and don't know exactly why things are so different. So, in France or Italy the secret of success is exactly the opposite. What does that tell us about us? And why is that?" __ #oliverwelke #heuteshow #phoenixpersönlich