There is a saying: “The pen is mightier than the sword”. In political discourse, a single quote can shift public opinion, influence elections, or even topple governments. But in times of fake news and disinformation, how often can we trust that what we hear or read is actually true?

Politics: The Power of the Spoken Word

Sometimes a single statement can determine the course of an entire career. Politicians are aware of this and choose their words carefully. But in the flood of information that floods us every day, truth, half-truth and pure fiction often mix.

Quotes: A double-edged sword

It is not new for statements to be taken out of context to support a particular point of view. That is an old hat . But in the age of digitalization and social media, such quotes can go viral in a split second. And then it is almost impossible to put the original statement back into perspective.

The facts behind the headlines

We set out to find the truth behind some of the most shared quotes of late. The result was revealing: Of the quotes checked were:

  • 11 clearly wrong,
  • 5 were actually true,
  • and 4 quotes had gray areas - they were neither completely wrong nor completely right, but somewhere in between.

The curse of politics – “label fraud”

Currently, status amounts are doing the rounds that begin with “ETIQUETTENSCHWINDEL”. These statements claim that we “GUARANTEED NOT” see certain quotes during election seasons. And why? That should give us something to think about. It is crucial to always check who is behind such claims and what their agenda is.

MIMIKAMA
Screenshot: Facebook

The fact check

Cigdem Akkaya, The Greens, Deputy Director of the Essen Center for Turkey: “People will finally say goodbye to the illusion that Germany belongs to the Germans.”

Rating: partly wrong. Source: Corrective

Margarete Bause, The Greens (MdL): “Just because someone rapes, robs or is a serious criminal is not a reason for deportation. Instead, we should take care of him and accept him as he is. There are human rights.”

Rating: fictitious / false Source: own research

Stefanie von Berg, The Greens: “It’s a good thing that we Germans will soon be in the minority.”

This quote is a misinterpretation. Source: own research

Daniel Cohn-Bendit, The Greens: “We, the Greens, must ensure that we bring as many foreigners to Germany as possible. If you are in Germany, we have to fight for your right to vote. Once we achieve that, we will have the share of votes we need to transform this republic.”

Rating: fictitious / false. Sources: Correctiv , The West

Nargess Eskandari-Grünberg, The Greens: “Migration is a fact in Frankfurt. If you don’t like that, you’ll have to move somewhere else.”

Rating: Correct. Source: Corrective

Joschka Fischer, The Greens: “Germany must be heterogenized from (…) within through influx, so to speak diluted.” (Review of his book “Risk Germany”)

Rating: fictitious / false. Sources: Braunschweiger Zeitung , dpa , Correctiv , own research

Joschka Fischer, The Greens: “The world should simply kill German heroes like rabid dogs.”

Rating: Correct. Source: Correctiv , dpa , Frankfurt city newspaper

Joschka Fischer, The Greens: “It’s not about right or wrong in the immigration debate, for us it’s first about reducing the German population in this country.”

Rating: fictitious / false. Source: Braunschweiger Zeitung

Sieglinde Frieß, The Greens, Verdi department head: “I wanted France to reach as far as the Elbe and Poland to border directly on France.”

Rating: partly wrong. Source: Correctiv , German Bundestag

Katrin Göring-Eckardt, The Greens: “Of course Islam belongs to Germany, and of course Muslims belong to Germany. And I think we can be pretty happy about that. It would be very boring if we only had to deal with ourselves.”

Rating: Correct. Sources: rbb , Correctiv , dpa

Katrin Göring-Eckardt, The Greens: “The sexual assaults in Schorndorf can by no means be excused, but they show a cry for help from the refugees because their feelings are not respected enough by German women.” “Our country will change, and although drastic. And I look forward."

Rating: fictitious / false. Sources: BR24 , own research

Robert Habeck, The Greens: “I always found love for the fatherland sickening. I never knew what to do with Germany and still don’t know today.”

Rating: Correct. Sources: Tagesspiegel , own research , reading sample of the book “Patriotism: a left-wing plea” , Wikiquote

Petra Klamm-Rothberger, The Greens: “In the perpetrator’s homeland, raped women are sentenced to death. That's why he had to kill her after raping her. We need to understand these cultural differences.”

Rating: False. This person doesn't even exist. Sources: dpa , own research

Renate Künast, The Greens: “Integration starts with you as a German learning Turkish!”

Rating: fictitious / false. Sources: Correctiv , own research

Aydan Özoguz, The Greens, Federal Government Commissioner for Migration, Refugees and Integration: “The fact that asylum seekers become criminals and even commit robbery is solely the fault of the Germans, because their willingness to donate leaves a lot to be desired.”

Rating: fictitious / false. Source: own research , Correctiv , AFP

Cem Özdemir, The Greens: “The young Germans are now called Mustafa, Giovanni and Ali!”

Rating: Taken out of context. Source: oezdemir , own research , dpa

Claudia Roth, The Greens: “The incidents at the Cologne train station can be seen as a cry for help from all refugees because they feel sexually excluded by German women.”

Rating: fictitious / false. Sources: Correctiv , own research , dpa

Claudia Roth, The Greens: “On the German national day, the streets are drowning in a sea of ​​red Turkish flags and a few black, red and gold flags.”

Rating: fictitious / false. Sources: own research , the West

Jürgen Trittin, The Greens: “The immigration debate is not about justice, we are primarily concerned with reducing the German population in this country.”

Rating: fictitious / false. Source: DPA , Correctiv , Braunschweiger Zeitung

Arif Ünal, The Greens: “The abolition of the oath formula “For the good of the German people” will be unanimously decided in the North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament.” Ünal was the applicant.

Rating: Correct. Source: RP Online

How can we protect ourselves?

The best defense against disinformation? Education, critical thinking and constant review . It is our right and our duty as informed citizens to check the sources and form our own opinions.

Conclusion: The truth is out there

We live in difficult times. The boundaries between truth and fiction are often fluid. But with a good dose of skepticism, the willingness to check and the courage to question things, we can ensure that we do not fall victim to disinformation. It's time we reclaim the power of the spoken word and ensure our political debate is based on fact, not fiction.


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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )