NDR’s satirical campaign backfires

NDR expresses regret

German comedian causes scandal in Greenland

Donald Trump dreams of seeing the US flag flying in Greenland. A German comedian beat him to it. The reaction from the locals is harsh.

The Greenlanders didn’t find that funny at all: According to information from t-online, the German cabaret artist and TV presenter Maxi Schafroth, who also works for the NDR satirical show Extra 3, tried to hoist a US flag in front of the cultural center in the Greenland capital Nuuk on Wednesday.

Cultural center employees prevented him from doing so. Greenlandic activist Orla Joelsen posted a video showing the action. He wrote: “If you don’t respect our values, why are you in Nuuk?! Shame on you, you fool!”

A little later he added in another post: “It was a German comedian – from the German satirical television show Extra 3 – who tried to be funny by pretending to be a representative of the US government.” He was reported to the police, Joelsen continued. The footage shows how the action was filmed by a cameraman.

Norddeutscher Rundfunk, which produces the program “Extra 3”, confirmed the incident when asked by t-online: The satirical editorial team “Extra 3” had filmed a satirical film in the Greenlandic capital: “A member of the team pretended to want to raise a US flag in a public square. A fine was imposed on site for this.”

The NDR spokeswoman continued: “At no time during filming should the impression arise that the target of the satire is Greenlanders. The editorial team expresses its regret to the people of Greenland if this impression was created.”

According to an eyewitness, Schafroth actually posed as a representative of the US government. “He got scared when he saw how big the headwind was,” the eyewitness told t-online. So he quickly left the place. “He caused a lot of chaos, especially in the tense political situation.” Many people might now think that it was actually a representative of the US government, she said.

Schafroth had already attracted attention with a similar campaign. According to information from t-online, on Tuesday he announced in English at Nuuk Airport, shortly after landing from Copenhagen: Donald Trump had landed and the Greenlanders were cheering him on. There had actually been cheers on the airport grounds; But it was for a Greenlandic futsal team that had returned from a tournament in Croatia. Futsal is FIFA’s official indoor football variant.