Thomas van Groningen, Op1’s political analyst, gets a big blow. “The problem is that he partly does the same thing as TV clowns like Jaïr Ferwerda.”
The way in which Thomas van Groningen manifests himself in the talk show Op1 causes annoyance to debate expert Lars Duursma. “I have a problem with him,” he says in his podcast The Communicados. “The problem is that he partly does the same as TV clowns like Jaïr Ferwerda.”
Create moment
What does Thomas do then? “During the day he tries to create a moment in The Hague and then he really consciously does not look for the content. It just has to be fun, creating a nice fragment in the Binnenhof. Jaïr does the same and then sits down on the couch in the evening to rest (…), but Thomas does it a little differently,” says Lars.
Thomas is also a table guest in Op1. “So he tries to create a moment, which he can then discuss in the evening. So the only goal is: hey, let me create something fun, something memorable, something controversial, because then I can justify sitting at a table at a talk show in the evening to discuss that moment.”
“Are you resigning?”
It bothers Lars, for example, when Thomas runs after politicians to ask whether they throw in the towel, as recently happened with D66 MP Tjeerd de Groot. “That is a question that is only meant to create riots.”
“Then he really tries to ask this question three more times with the sole purpose of creating a moment for the evening talk show. And it’s never about the content, only about the dolls. In fact, he also symbolizes everything that is wrong with reporting in The Hague.”
Dolls
Co-host Victor Vlam agrees. “It’s like: talking about the nitrogen content is probably something that is complex for the viewer and a moment of withdrawal, so Thomas van Groningen always tries to package it as: what does this mean for your position or for someone else’s position? In other words, it’s always about the puppets.”
It is precisely the reason why the surcharge scandal came to light so late, says Lars. “That is complicated, far away. Then you have to investigate things, you have to read up, you have to do journalistic work. It is much easier if you only talk about the dolls.”
“And as long as it couldn’t be about the puppets, the whole benefits affair wasn’t really interesting either.”
play clown
Lars thinks Thomas should scratch his head. “Thomas van Groningen tries to be a clown in everything he does. Stop that.”
“Let it also be about substantive discussions for once, instead of just wanting to score that moment that you can discuss on the talk show in the evening.”