Jens Spahn

"normal work"— Jens Spahn explains that his withdrawal is due to 'normal work' being hardly possible for him.

I believe there had to be consequences after the trust had been so eroded.

— Omid Nouripour, Green Party politician, said on the ARD program Maischberger that there had to be consequences after the trust had been so eroded.

I was too afraid to speak openly about this sensitive topic.

— Spahn in a letter to CDU party colleagues in his Steinfurt/Borken constituency, referencing the surrogacy debate

I was too afraid to openly take a stand on this sensitive topic.

— Statement by Jens Spahn in a letter to CDU/CSU members in his constituency Steinfurt I/Borken I regarding the surrogacy debate, provided to the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).

I believe that Jens Spahn's path is not finished yet.

— Söder said during the July reshuffle of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group's leadership.

If you were looking for the least suitable budget steward, Spahn would surely be a top-three pick.

— Friedrich Küppersbusch, commentary on Jens Spahn's role in the Budget Committee (taz interview)

Right-wing nationalist circles such as the AfD are responsible for the campaign against me, partly backed by new right-wing media.

— Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf, stating that AfD-aligned circles were involved in the campaign against her.

She wants a paternalistic state that, above all, knows what’s best for women and also for potential surrogates.

— Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf, Leipzig-based professor; quoted in Die Zeit about the CDU/CSU's stance on surrogacy.

You are leading a party here, not a company.

— Heiko Strohmann, Bremen CDU state chairman, reprimanding Merz over his leadership style.

Unfortunately, after all this I no longer believe that the CDU is the party that can 'move Germany forward' again.

— Laura Strohschneider, Brandenburg JU chair, in a message to members (as reported by dpa)

a good chance to change the party's communication and to break through the ideological narrowing

— Dennis Radtke, chairman of the Christian Democratic Workers' Association (CDA), to AFP

I would pick out this guy, the one who recently insinuated that Angela Merkel must hang, and who lamented that Stauffenberg is no longer alive to carry out an attack on Friedrich Merz.

— Theo Waigel, in the context of his critique of the AfD and tougher action; quoted in Welt, originally from a Stern interview

Mr. Streeck has not advocated any political positions that conflict with his personal life. That means there is no question about his political credibility.

— Stefan Kornelius, government spokesperson, in Berlin

I am really very confident that from this parliamentary group meeting a new impulse will come, a new dynamic will come.

— Friedrich Merz, during a press conference after the Unionsfraktion meeting in Berlin

The Wegner and Spahn affair shows that the will of the base can no longer be smothered by the party establishment, and problems can no longer be swept under the rug.

— Thorsten Alsleben, CDU member and managing director of the Initiative Neue Soziale Marktwirtschaft (INSM), stated on X

That is completely unacceptable how he acted there. Resigning is the only step.

— Siegfried Bögelein, chairman of the CDU Crailsheim city association; commentary on Jens Spahn's ousting