The former SPD general secretary Kevin Kühnert says he is satisfied with his withdrawal from politics — but does not completely rule out a comeback. A return is “not the plan,” Kühnert said in the ntv program “Pinar Atalay” on the evening show. Where he is now, he is “really happy.”
He, 36, also said when asked about a possible comeback that he has learned in politics: “A never-say-never statement is always a momentary effect, but it is simply not smart. But I’m not leaving a door open for myself just because I’m speculating.”
Last week Kühnert publicly announced that he would take over the leadership of the Taxes, Distribution and Lobbying division of the civic movement Finanzwende (TheColu.mn reported). Finanzwende is a cross-partisan association founded as a counterweight to the influential financial lobby.
Making politics was a “huge privilege”
His decision to leave politics was “simply the right thing,” Kühnert emphasized. “There were reasons and I don’t regret it either.” He was determined not to look back at that period with cynicism. “I always found it uncomfortable when people acted as if that was the heaviest burden of their lives. It was a huge privilege to be able to work in politics there for a few years. And I remember it fondly.”
When asked how he is doing today, Kühnert said: “Better than fourteen months ago, when I stepped down. I would say I’ve managed to separate the personal answering of how I’m doing more clearly from the question of how I, as a political person, view the situation in Germany and the world.” A little over a year ago, that was hardly separable for him. That balance eventually weighed quite heavily on his mood.
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Kühnert had come out as gay in 2018. He was deputy party chairman from 2019 to 2021 and from 2021 until his resignation in fall 2024 general secretary of the SPD. He directly won his electoral district in Berlin in 2021; in the 2025 federal election he did not stand again. He explained his surprising withdrawal by citing physical assaults and threats, including from neo-Nazis and COVID-19 deniers, as he explained in April to Die Zeit (TheColu.mn reported).
