Thuringia's Prime Minister considers the television duel with Björn Höcke to be fatal. How he wants to deal with the AfD, why he is tired of some journalists' questions – and why he doesn't rule out a coalition with Wagenknecht's BSW.

Mr. Prime Minister, would you also have a television duel with the right-wing extremist Björn Höcke, like the Thuringian CDU top candidate Mario Voigt?

No. Mr. Voigt's logic is that Höcke has to be exposed publicly and shown as a fascist. I don't share that. This means you meet Mr. Höcke at eye level and offer him a podium that he himself avoids. He no longer gives interviews to your colleagues, the traditional journalists, he disrespects democratic culture. You should also draw conclusions from this when dealing with him. Especially when you look at how Höcke's surroundings are inciting the blue mob, especially against the poor school principal in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, who called the police because of a student's right-wing posting. This is pathetic, this is sickening, I could cry with rage at how degrading the way the headmaster is treated there.