Overview

• Jens Spahn said the United States has never faced a greater threat to its democratic norms and expressed deep concern about escalating polarization.
• He argued that the MAGA movement now deploys tools he associates with the left, citing cancel culture and hate speech, and urged Germany and Europe to avoid similar media‑pressure dynamics, referencing the Julia Ruhs case.
• Spahn criticized President Donald Trump’s recent call to strip licenses from critical TV outlets, calling it a problematic understanding of democracy.
• Journalist Kerstin Kohlenberg countered that Democrats have not threatened broadcast licenses and said government pressure to revoke a license would breach the U.S. Constitution.
• Spahn acknowledged he sometimes overreaches after pointed questioning, and he noted from talks with Republicans that MAGA actors expect a future governing role for Germany’s AfD.