Much has already been said and written about the lame interview with Frans Timmermans in Today Inside. Why did Wilfred Genee let this happen? “It’s just a conscious strategy.”
Frans Timmermans has had an unexpectedly easy performance at Today Inside. René van der Gijp remains silent anyway if no one wants to hear his jokes about Ruud Gullit’s genitals, Johan Derksen is only critical of politicians if they are not involved and Wilfred Genee was apparently thinking elsewhere.
Victor critical
Victor Vlam also thinks it’s a missed opportunity. “Timmermans has been treated harshly in VI for years and of course you have to do the same when he is in front of you and beyond… I didn’t think it was a very interesting broadcast, because you didn’t actually learn that much new, and it wasn’t that entertaining either,” says the TV critic in the podcast. Victor Indicates TV.
Why were they so good at VI? “I don’t know. Of course I am sometimes a guest on those programs, but that does not mean that they share their internal considerations with me. If I were to speculate, I would think that it is a conscious choice to adopt a different attitude towards Timmermans.”
Attacked hard
Timmermans has been severely attacked in the past in VI, and during the TV debate on SBS 6. “At a certain point, Timmermans and left-wing leaders may get the impression that: yes, you will only be bashed hard at VI. Then there will come a time when those people say: ‘Then I won’t come anymore’, because after all, what do you have to gain from it?”
And VI wants to prevent that, Victor suspects. “As a talk show you are more relevant if all the political leaders want to visit you. You place yourself in the middle of the social debate and therefore you have more influence as a program than if you were alone in your own bubble. I think that is the idea behind it.”
Failed strategy
According to him, VI wants to prevent that all left-wing leaders no longer want to visit. “I suspect that is the strategy, but I think they have gone too far. You can certainly tackle Timmermans and make your own voice heard. You just have to make sure that you fair are. That you give him the chance to answer.”
He concludes: “They certainly should have tackled him much harder. Then it would have become a more interesting show.”