Caroline van der Plas made her entrance to The Hague on a cozy farm tractor, but lately she has become increasingly grumpy. She really grumbles about the media all the time.
Caroline van der Plas’ media appearances have not been going well lately. Things were still going well in the summer – when she showed her new sushi jacket to Hart van Nederland – but now it’s all a bit angry and aggrieved. It started last week in Op1, where she behaved so defensively that she said sorry at one point.
“I’m not implying!”
But Caroline still hasn’t shaken that petulance. She was in Good Morning Netherlands on Monday and then it started again. Presenter Maaike Timmerman wanted to know who would go to a possible prime ministerial debate on television: herself or her recently presented prime ministerial candidate Mona Keijzer.
It caused annoyance to the BBB forewoman. “We also agree on that. If there is a debate and it concerns the elections to the House of Representatives, then it is usually the party leader who does that and that will not be any different with us. There is also no arguing or fuss about it at all… I always find it…”
Maaike surprised: “I am not implying that at all!”
Angry in EenVandaag
Caroline was in front of the EenVandaag camera yesterday and again she was not served by a question about Derk-Jan Eppink, the Member of Parliament who switched from JA21 to BBB. “If someone changes parties five times, does that make him a better politician?”
She replies grumpily, “In fifty years. Did you ask Dilan Yesilgöz that she had four parties in ten years?”
The EenVandaag reporter: “He also had questions about that.”
Caroline: “Yes, but does that make her a worse MP for VVD?”
Weird frames
EenVandaag finds it quite striking that Caroline removes MPs everywhere. “You are in one group with three switchers, isn’t that a guarantee for trouble?”
Caroline pissed: “I think that’s such a strange frame that you keep putting: fight, fight, fight.”
Is that all? No, later in the evening she was also on Humberto Tan’s talk show yesterday and she suddenly objected to him calling Mona Keijzer the ‘prime ministerial candidate’ of BBB. While Caroline just announced it herself.
Prime Ministerial candidate
Humberto is surprised. “I saw out of the corner of my eye at the presentation text when I said ‘prime ministerial candidate’ that you did this (shakes head, ed.).”
Caroline: “No, we have presented Mona as number two on the list of candidates and if we ever get into a coalition and we are asked to provide a prime minister then she will be the candidate, but that is a bit long for a newspaper headline. I get that.”
She snaps at the media: “So then the newspapers make it, and it’s not their fault, not at all, guys, media, I don’t blame you… But she’s now always presented as the prime ministerial candidate, but we really have her presented as number two on the list.”
Fierce criticism
That is obviously not true and that leads to fierce criticism of the socials. According to them, this is the first evidence of doubt about Mona’s capabilities as a possible BBB prime minister:
Tired
Johan Derksen sets up Inside today that it is starting to become clear that Caroline is overtired. “When someone like Caroline walks on her gums, you become more mentally vulnerable. She was a tough woman when she came, but she is at the very end of her rope.”
Caroline admits to VI’s camera that she is indeed tired: “Yes, that’s right. I’m really tired. I’ve had long weeks with the candidates and the election manifesto. I would almost say: ‘I need a break’, but I just got back.”