Look I’m not trying to argue that Merz is a paragon of virtue. What I’m arguing is that

a) a lot of things are way more important to him than the things you are worried about and

b) there’s checks on his behaviour, from inside the conservative population. They know who did and who did not murder Lübcke, who agitated against him (among others, Steinbach) which is why right now nobody, literally nobody, is backing Merz as Lübcke’s widow is ripping into him for his “where was Antifa” comment: The Antifa was there, it was Merz and the other paleoconservative CDU people who weren’t. This idea that he can do what he wants is falling for the conservative’s apparent unity while in reality it’s a cesspit of backroom deals and backstabbing.