Wolfgang Kubicki, the newly elected chairman of the FDP, recently addressed comments made by his defeated challenger, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann. Kubicki countered one of her tweets, stating that it is not so simple to “drive liberal nails with a rubber hammer”. Speaking to the news channel “Welt” on Monday, he reflected on his own attempts to do so, admitting he “failed mercilessly” in trying “to drive liberal nails, to drive any nails at all”.
Strack-Zimmermann had previously posted on X/Twitter, indicating she knew where the ‘hammer hung’ and had taken hold of it safely, because she did not want “you to accidentally hurt yourself”. Her specific response to Kubicki’s previous quote was: “Marie-Agnes, you only have 40 percent-and now you know where the hammer hangs”. However, Kubicki insists the dispute should not be overblown.
He argued that both she and he are “personages with strong opinions” and occasionally “genuinely tease each other”. Since they have worked together in leadership roles on the party’s top committees for 13 years, Kubicki pointed out that after the election, she told him that 40 percent of members would be watching him closely alongside her. He responded by saying, “Marie-Agnes, 60 percent are showing you where the hammer hangs”. He quipped that they had once again “nicely frayed each other” during a joint presidium meeting that morning, yet mutually agreed that further public sparring would leave the impression that their relationship was fraught.
Regarding the percentages, Kubicki found the characterization that the 40 percent were all pro-left-liberal or the 60 percent were all pro-right-liberal to be “quite comical”. He argued that it is strange how competition is immediately framed as division, as this would prevent anyone from running against anyone else in democratic parties. Furthermore, he emphasized their alignment on political issues, asking, “I don’t know of a single political point where Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann and I differ in opinion”. He added that while they might “intonate things a little differently and be a little sharper, differently” he was “the last person to call for restraint from Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann” as he himself is not one for holding back. He concluded by asking who could document a specific political point where her view differed from his.
Meanwhile, Strack-Zimmermann reinforced her perspective in her engagement with the newly elected FDP chairman. Telling the news portal T-Online, she stressed that “every leader needs motivated partners”. She asserted that no party chairman can simply push through his will; he requires “partners, colleagues, allies in the best sense, who lend their head and fight”.
Strack-Zimmermann insisted that no one is “going it alone” and expressed strong confidence that their future cooperation would succeed. “For that, we must both be constructive. I expect that from Wolfgang Kubicki, and he can expect that from me” she stated. “This naturally does not preclude the fact that we will also discuss substantive issues when necessary”. The European politician added that while she is not a splinter in a colleague’s flesh, she certainly is in the flesh of other political parties and would contribute to their future success.
Concerning the FDP’s upcoming direction-which involves controversies over its approach to the AfD and attracting potential voters from the right-populist spectrum-she remarked: “I do not believe we can win back convinced AfD voters with jarring tones. The unappetizing tone of the AfD is not us, and we never will be. It evokes outrage, fear, and discontent”.
