German vice chancellor regrets not flipping two birds at neo-Nazis

Sigmar Gabriel says only mistake was not using both hands during response to protesters who said he should be more like his Nazi dad

By AFP and AP 29 August 2016, 6:30 am

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BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s second-in-command has only one regret after flipping the bird at a group of neo-Nazis recently.

He wishes he’d shown them both middle fingers, not one.

Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel received both criticism and applause for his unambiguous gesture of disdain toward far-right protesters in the town of Salzgitter earlier this month.

A video posted online showed about 10 far-right protesters hurling abuse at Gabriel and praising his late father, an ardent believer in Nazism.

“Man, your father loved his country, and what have you done to it? You’re destroying it,” a protester could be heard saying on the video.

The Social Democrat leader, who has publicly condemned his father as a “die-hard Nazi,” turned to face the protesters with a smile, before making the gesture.

Gabriel told public broadcaster ZDF in an interview broadcast Sunday that “I made just one mistake, I didn’t use both hands.”

In recent months, far-right groups have repeatedly interrupted meetings between German politicians and voters to protest the government’s refugee policy.