Tuesday, July 22
“Shitty AfD!“: Chaos as protests drown out leader Alice Weidel’s summer interview
It was a piece of high political theatre. As the far‑right leader Alice Weidel sat down for her “summer interview” with presenter Markus Preiß from German broadcaster ARD, they could hardly hear a word of each other. Nearby, speakers on a bus had been set up by the activist group Zentrum für Politische Schönheit (Centre for Political Beauty), and they drowned out the interview with the lilting sound of a choir. It sounded a little like a Christmas carol, but in fact, repeated over and over, it played the words Scheisse AfD (or “Shitty AfD”)—to the clear and increasing distress of the politician.
Since the broadcast, the AfD leader has been up in arms. During the interview she described the choir as a “tax‑funded NGO” and has since posted on social media: “This is how it looks, by the way, when Tagesschau holds a summer interview with the AfD in CDU‑governed Berlin – while the NGO choir protests in the background.”
Berlin police have initiated proceedings for disruption against the activist group, who had not registered the protest in advance. The Centre for Political Beauty were not the only protesters; they were joined by Omas Gegen Rechts (Grandmas Against the Right), who could also be seen holding placards in the background of the broadcast. German broadcaster ARD has said that despite these disruptions, they intend to continue conducting interviews outside, directly in front of the Bundestag.
This is not the first disruptive action by the Zentrum für Politische Schönheit in Berlin, whose activities in the German capital date back to 2015, when they held a symbolic burial for drowned refugees. Since then they’ve brought live tigers to the city, conducted fake aerial targeting of the AfD, erected a mini‑Holocaust memorial outside far‑right leader Björn Höcke’s home, and put up a giant poster showing Friedrich Merz and Alice Weidel kissing.
