“Herzlich willkommen in einer neuen Zeit,” Ulrich Siegmund told ZDF journalist Fabian Köster in Magdeburg, as political tensions flared inside the newly convened state parliament in Sachsen-Anhalt. The confrontation, which quickly circulated across social media platforms via right-leaning channels like the Deutschlandkurier and Utopia TV, marked a tense escalation in relations between the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and public-service broadcasters (t-online). In the title of the video shared online, Köster’s name was decorated with a clown emoji.
A Second Clash in the Magdeburg Corridors
The latest verbal sparring session followed the constitutive session of the state parliament in Magdeburg, where Tobias Rausch secured election as the first AfD state parliamentary president in Germany on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, alongside deputy Hans-Thomas Tillschneider (Frankfurter Rundschau). Stationed in the corridors, 31-year-old heute-show reporter Fabian Köster waited to question AfD floor leader Ulrich Siegmund. Round two between the ZDF satirist and the AfD politician spanned a nearly two-minute-long recording.
Siegmund walked directly toward the reporter, initiating the exchange with a pointed question about employment security: “What will you do if we cancel the media state treaty this year? Have you already found a job?” (WELT). During their previous encounter in August at a campaign event in Oranienbaum, Siegmund had already confronted the ZDF satirist with similar provocations, asking whether he could work a normal job and inquiring what he would do if the GEZ fees were gone. The remark underscores the party’s stated legislative ambitions to scale back or pressure public broadcasting networks upon entering government. Looking toward the election of the minister-president, Siegmund further announced that they would see each other again in December as “MP”, expecting to secure the majority and become the first AfD minister-president in German history, telling Köster that they could then talk about finding a function for him once the media state treaty was cancelled.
Köster parried the query by invoking the party’s earlier nepotism scandals, which surfaced after investigative reports revealed several parliamentary deputies had hired relatives or partners of colleagues using public budgets (t-online). “I just hope that I’m related to some AfD colleague, because then he’ll just hire me,” Köster replied. When Köster subsequently asked where Siegmund would obtain the necessary votes to elect a minister-president, the AfD politician deflected by asking if he wanted to become their press spokesperson. Köster retorted that doing so would surely require having been in the HDJ, referring to the “Heimattreue Deutsche Jugend”, a right-wing extremist federation banned by the Federal Ministry of the Interior in 2009. Siegmund mocked in response that he would handle Köster’s application with priority.
Navigating Past Convictions and Personal Jabs
The dialogue grew increasingly sharp when Köster pressed Siegmund on whether he endorsed working alongside individuals with criminal convictions. The reporter cited the case of AfD parliamentarian Philipp-Anders Rau, who was legally convicted of document forgery and large-scale theft—including the appropriation of substantial quantities of towels and bed linens, as documented by the local newspaper Volksstimme (WELT). Köster also noted that the newly elected parliamentary president Tobias Rausch was himself previously entangled in the nepotism affair, having temporarily employed multiple siblings via the office of AfD federal parliamentarian Claudia Weiss.
When Köster asked if someone who loves their country would engage in such offenses by asking, “Oh, as a towel thief and document forger you love your country?”, Siegmund defended the arrangement: “Of course. Because they love their country. You have nothing to do with that.” When pressed further on whether he would judge such misbehavior similarly if found in other parties, Siegmund stated that it had to be examined on a “case-by-case” basis, adding that such cases had been experienced for “years” without specifying which ones he meant.
The conversation grew increasingly detailed and bickering as Siegmund attempted to take over the questioning role, asking the reporter to ask something political and whether he had any understanding of politics at all. After Köster returned the statement, Siegmund asked if any more jokes were coming, to which Köster replied that he did not find any of it funny. Siegmund then noted that Köster had not yet been able to process everything that happened there.
As the exchange continued, Siegmund sought to regain control of the narrative, telling the satirist, “You’re shaking again, are you nervous?” before draping an arm around his shoulders and welcoming him to the “new era” in Saxony-Anhalt (Express). The pair had previously crossed paths in August during a campaign appearance in Oranienbaum, where they debated topics surrounding migration and labor shortages, and where stream operators had similarly accompanied the former AfD top candidate almost around the clock.
Digital Tracking and Ongoing Security Concerns
The confrontation in the main building did not remain isolated to a two-person dialogue. According to eyewitness reporting from the Volksstimme, a video team and digital stream operators from the AfD-aligned portal Deutschlandkurier pursued Köster through the parliament’s hallways and stairwells even after he declined to conduct further interviews, peppering him with questions concerning his income (Frankfurter Rundschau). Already during the election campaign, AfD-adjacent streamers and activists had harassed or badgered journalists, prompting the party to eventually instruct the right-wing influencer known as “Aktivist Mann” not to bother reporters at events anymore. Köster summarized the latest tracking episode by remarking that it was presumably about causing “trouble”.
