Katharina Dröge, chairwoman of the Greens’ Bundestag caucus, defended colleague Zoe Mayer after journalists criticized her for reposting an eight‑year‑old video of Baden‑Württemberg CDU top candidate Manuel Hagel. “When a woman who points out a man’s misconduct is the one attacked, something fundamental is wrong” Dröge told the German editorial network. “It sends a message to many young women that staying silent is safer, or else you’ll be branded the problem”. She noted that Hagel himself has dismissed his earlier statements as “mist” (bullshit), implying that the point had already been made.
The clip shows 29‑year‑old Christian Democratic General Secretary and future Spitzenkandidat Manuel Hagel speaking in a tavern in Ulm. He talks about a visit to a secondary school, remarking that eighty percent of the class were girls. “So there are worse moments for a 29‑year‑old MP than this” he says. He then recalls a particular student, saying: “I’ll never forget the first question – her name was Eva, she had brown hair and very deep brown eyes”.
