For a brief moment, a sense of quiet sympathy could be felt in Berlin’s often unforgiving political arena: On Monday morning, federal labor minister and co-leader of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) Bärbel Bas announced her resignation from all government and party positions. The 58-year-old politician cited a personal tragedy as the reason for her decision: “Following the death of my stepdaughter, I have come to realize that I need time to work through my grief,” Bas wrote in a statement.
Bas also said that sustained criticism from the center-right conservative parties, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU), had contributed to her decision to step down. In her statement, she wrote that she had been forced to “conclude that public attacks on me, unfortunately also from within the ranks of our coalition partner, continued to intensify during this personally difficult time.”
Merz reportedly criticized Bas in an off-the-record briefing
Bas had recently been responsible for implementing complex reforms to Germany’s public pension system and had been urged by some conservative politicians, in rather harsh terms, not to delay the project any further.
According to a report in the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, one remark in particular appears to have weighed heavily on her: A comment allegedly made by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, of the CDU, during an off-the-record briefing with journalists.
Was this, then, a politician who felt so overwhelmed by pressure, both personal and political, that she chose to step down rather than continue to endure it? Berlin-based political and media scholar Mirco Liefke has long studied the dynamics of public communication.
He told DW that unfairness and harshness have always been part of politics, but added: “What I do think is new is the potential for escalation and the speed that social media have brought to public debate. Along with that has come an incentive for individual actors to adopt ever more radical positions.”
Politics and the media: What goes public, what stays hidden?
Emotions and speed are the driving forces, while social media amplifies both these. Another consequence is that there are hardly any spaces left where politicians can speak in confidence. Merz is said to have made critical remarks of Bas during an off-the-record briefing whose contents were not intended for publication.
He reportedly remarked that Bas was barely visible in public and failing to put forward proposals of her own, though the chancellor was aware of the SPD leader’s personal circumstances.
A spokesperson for Merz declined to confirm or deny the account, but by then the remarks had long since entered the public domain. As Liefke puts it: “It has effectively become a business model to leak information that is meant to remain confidential and thereby generate attention.”
Green Party co-leader Banaszak: ‘No backing from the SPD’
The co-leader of Germany’s center-left Green Party, Felix Banaszak, comes from the same city as Bas, Duisburg, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, and has known the former SPD leader for many years.
“Toughness and ruthlessness are nothing new in politics,” he told DW. “But we still need to find a different way of doing things if we do not want to keep wearing people down.”
Banaszak also holds his colleagues in the SPD accountable: “The fact that Bärbel Bas encountered so little understanding for her personal situation from within the ranks of the coalition partner, and that apparently no one in the SPD was willing to step forward, defend her, and take her out of the line of fire, is simply not a good sign.”
“It would be naive to pretend that the attacks on a man would have unfolded in a similar way,” Banaszak added.
Liefke agrees: “Women politicians are subjected to an extraordinary degree of misogynistic and sexualized abuse, and they face a level of public exposure that is entirely new.”
CDU pushes back
The debate over how Bas and her grief should have been treated soon took on some of the same characteristics as the attacks that had preceded her resignation. Manuela Schwesig, SPD premier of the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, described the attacks by the CDU/CSU as “inhuman,” drawing sharp criticism from many conservative politicians. Merz, meanwhile, publicly expressed his regret over Bas’ resignation, and wished her all the best.
For Liefke, this is simply another facet of the growing emotionalization of politics. Once a politician decides to step down, he argues, public expressions of concern are often far more intense than they used to be and come from all sides: “This is a facade of concern,” he said. “There is something ritualistic, almost reflexive, about it. People react this way because they are following another major trend: Emotionalization.”
The case of Kevin Kühnert
The attacks on Bas are just one example of the increasingly harsh tone of political debate. Formal reprimands in the Bundestag have risen sharply, particularly since the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) entered parliament in 2017. High-profile resignations have also made headlines, including that of Kevin Kühnert, the SPD’s former secretary-general.
Kühnert stepped down in 2024, citing health reasons. In April 2025, however, he told Die Zeit newspaper that he had felt constantly threatened by far-right extremists. Political debate, he said, is showing “an increasing lack of respect for the views of those who think differently.”
Former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt: A public figure, yet still private
Liefke points out that politicians once managed to maintain two distinct modes of communication: One public and one private. “When you think of earlier generations of politicians, what comes to mind is the distance they maintained, the relative lack of emotional display. Take Helmut Schmidt, for example. He did not openly grieve over things that came crashing down on him. At least, he did not show it publicly.” Helmut Schmidt, of the SPD, served as chancellor from 1974 to 1982.
Liefke argues: “Today, politicians such as Bärbel Bas benefit from drawing on their own life stories when they say, ‘I come from a working-class background and worked my way up.’ That can work to their advantage, but it also makes them far more visible, and far more vulnerable, as individuals.”
Bas, who served as president of the Bundestag from 2021 to 2025, intends to retain her parliamentary seat. Life is likely to become quieter for her now, while others move into the spotlight, both in public and, perhaps, in private as well.
This article was translated from German.
