The German Foreign Minister, Johann Wadephul, urged the United States on Tuesday to uphold freedom of expression for foreign journalists. His comments came after threats were made against the German correspondent for the ZDF network in Washington, following the death of political activist Charlie Kirk.
In response to a question from a journalist in Berlin, Wadephul expressed his hopes and expectations that press freedom would not be compromised for German journalists in the United States.
Former U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell called on Saturday for the expulsion of Elimar Thivisen, the head of the ZDF bureau in Washington, citing what he described as left-wing extremism and incitement to violence.
Grenell, who is closely associated with former President Donald Trump, served as U.S. ambassador to Berlin from 2018 to 2020 during Trump’s first term. He shared a clip from a ZDF program on social media where Thivisen referred to Stephen Miller, the Deputy White House Chief of Staff for Political Affairs, labeling his views as “extremely radical.”
In the clip, the German journalist suggested that “Miller’s beliefs are somewhat derived from the ideology of the Third Reich.”
In his post, Grenell characterized Thivisen as “a radical leftist German who calls for violence against those with differing political views,” urging for his visa to be revoked.
Recently, there has been a rise in demands from U.S. right-wing circles to take action against those who criticize the late right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, interpreting it as a form of political violence.