Özdemir rehearses the anti-woken Green Party restart on TV – a transparent game

The Greens are in crisis far beyond the edge of their rubber boots: the mood in the traffic light coalition is at a new low, the poll numbers are in the basement, the managers are being replaced. The party lost a lot of land in the state elections in the east.

Above all, their core clientele – the climate-conscious young voters – are turning away from the young people’s uncompromising attitude and are becoming ultra-conservative. How could it come to this?

At “Maischberger”, Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir has stepped in to not only weaken the fatal downward trend, but also to force a radical turnaround, even if this requires major contortions. His unspoken message that evening: We Greens can do everything – even differently.

1st party of woke welcome culture advocates?

In a guest article in the FAZ, Özdemir recently wrote that his 18-year-old daughter and her friends were sometimes “unpleasantly stared at and sexualized” by men with a migrant background. A taboo break for many Greens: One of the accusations is that it is unacceptable for someone from the party to follow “right-wing narratives”. With “Maischberger,” however, Özdemir insists that he is just saying what is going on. This time, Özdemir doesn’t even want to rail against Friedrich Merz’s much-criticized description of the sons of Arab migrants as “little pashas”. Woke? That was once.

2nd party of class fighters in sneakers?

Özdemir coolly responds to the board members of the Green Youth who lacked the will for class struggle in their party and therefore announced their departure: “They were in the wrong party and have now realized that.” He doesn’t want to shed a tear after them: “Travellers “You shouldn’t be stopped.”

3. Prohibition party with Veggie Day?

Veggie Day and similar regulations no longer have any place with the revamped Greens: “One eats meat, the other is vegetarian, the third is a flexitarian – let people do it, interfere less,” demands vegetarian Özdemir. And even goes so far as to point the finger at Bavaria – the country in which even the timid no to Leberkäs and Weißwurst is seen by some as treason to their homeland: “I would like to shout that to Markus Söder: lecture people a little less.”

4. “Fridays for Future” seven days a week?

The Federal Minister of Agriculture even distances himself from Greta Thunberg: The fact that the climate activist is now appearing at pro-Palestinian demos “should make us all think again about what we used to think and say about this young lady,” said Özdemir. “I think that’s terrible and bad.” If the Greens were to deny climate change now, they would hardly be surprised.

Özdemir also has a personal agenda

This brilliant role backwards is a fairly transparent attempt to polish up the image of Alliance 90 / The Greens, which has been badly damaged over the past three years. But Özdemir is also pursuing a personal agenda at the same time: elections will be held in Baden-Württemberg at the beginning of 2026. Before Christmas, the country and the rest of the nation should find out whether Özdemir is applying to be Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann’s successor.

Sandra Maischberger wants to know from Özdemir whether Baden-Württemberg is ready for its first prime minister of Turkish origin. He is sure that at least the cosmopolitan part of the voters would probably have no problem with it.

And the rest? He couldn’t reach that even if his name was Hans-Gustav and he did Flik-Flaks. However, Özdemir has already proven how flexible he is in this “Maischberger” episode.