A German member of the EU’s Parliament exposed a hostile Der Spiegel reporter by pointing out his outlet received millions of dollars from Bill Gates, raising questions about the organization’s journalistic independence.
In a testy exchange, AfD MEP Petr Bystron, pointed out to the reporter that Der Spiegel received a $5.4 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
“How independent is your reporting if Bill Gates pays you?” Bystron asked the reporter. “Are you a journalist, or what exactly are you?”
🚨🇩🇪 AfD BYSTRON DESTROYS GATES-FUNDED SPIEGEL REPORTER‼️
— Naomi Seibt (@SeibtNaomi) February 10, 2025
AfD MEP Petr Bystron exposes an obnoxious SPIEGEL reporter:
“How independent is your reporting if Bill Gates pays you?”
He is totally SPEECHLESS! 🔥
FACT: SPIEGEL has received over $5.4 million from Gates! pic.twitter.com/GAkiRzPFL9
“Are you a journalist? Yeah? And are you an independent journalist?” he continued. “Where’s your independence if Bill Gates pays you 5 million in the last two years?”
The stunned journalist tried retaking control of the line of questioning, asking Bystron if he was being paid by Russian President Vladimir Putin, without elaborating on any evidence.
“Do you let Putin pay you?” he asked.
Bystron replied, “You let Bill Gates pay you! That’s a fact. Why spread such lies and baseless claims? Why do you do this?”
The reporter asked again, “What’s your link to the Russian regime?”
Bystron responded, “Why do you deliberately spread false, unproven information? Why do you do this? Is it because Bill Gates pays you? Or are you just that morally corrupt? Why do you do this?”
The exasperated reporter said, “This is getting silly, Mr. Bystron.”
“Thank you for understanding that you’re doing something ridiculous here,” Bystron said. “Thank you for acknowledging this. I think you’re on the right path. Congratulations to you.”
Despite investigations by German authorities in opposition to the AfD and reporting by liberal media outlets like Der Spiegel alleging Bystron and the AfD are somehow tied to the Kremlin, no concrete evidence has been presented to the public.
The AfD, a conservative nationalist party, has come under intense media attack in the wake of gaining ground in state elections in Germany in September thanks in part to support from Elon Musk.
Germany’s general election is set to take place on February 23, 2025.