Albert Verlinde Fires Back at Angela: ‘With Sherry on the Couch!’
Albert Verlinde has hit back hard at his critic, Angela de Jong. He doesn’t understand why she gets so worked up when he expresses his opinion on television. “With a glass of sherry on the couch!”
© RTL
There is some disagreement about the way the new intended prime minister, Dick Schoof, was received by the parliamentary press. Critics think it was too critical. VI-star Merel Ek also came in hard by asking a question about a sensitive issue from his past. Albert Verlinde finds this unfair and advocates for a friendlier reception.
False note
Angela de Jong was watching Albert’s statements on De Oranjezomer and doesn’t understand it at all. “Huh? Are we not talking about the presentation of a new musical where the lead actor is grilled about a false note thirteen years ago?”, she sneers in her AD column.
“We are talking about the new prime minister, who no one knows, who was not democratically elected, who will lead an experimental cabinet, partly on behalf of a party with dubious views, and there are also some things that have happened in the man’s long career that are worth mentioning.”
Albert’s response
Hélène Hendriks thinks it’s an achievement for Albert. “You finally did it. You appear once on De Oranjezomer and bam, there’s Angela de Jong with a column.”
Albert: “Yes, isn’t it nice? (…) No, but this was not about Merel. This was from me. The man tells a story and beforehand I heard all kinds of journalists saying: ‘Yes, but he was always a top civil servant and now he’s becoming prime minister. How does he do that?’ Then I think: ask that! But no one does. Everyone is emitting a kind of trench of negativity.”
Audition for Angela
That negativity irritates Albert. “I’m just really done with that. Angela de Jong may not like it, but I’m not here to audition for Angela de Jong. I’m here to give my opinion and we are all here around the table to hear each other’s opinion. She’s not used to that, but I think it’s fun.”
Hélène: “Yes, she is used to that, but when you said, ‘He had a fantastic story’, I thought: I didn’t hear it. It was just written by the press officer and he read it out, so to speak.”
School newspaper
A fantastic story may be an exaggeration, according to Albert, but: “You’re live on the broadcast and you say things, you know? It’s not like you think it’s going to be the New Year’s Eve show, it’s not that, but that man is there for the first time. He presents himself to us, to the Netherlands, and then you get such a sourpuss in front of you.”
Hélène: “Yes, but it’s not a school newspaper, is it? You only have one chance to ask a question.”
Normal question
Albert sticks to his point. “Yes, but today Angela de Jong wrote: ‘Yes, but you can’t expect Wouter de Winther to…’ He was the only one who asked a normal question! He asked the question: ‘Who as prime minister was a role model for you?’ I think that’s a question that is just positive and nice and good.”
Finally, about the AD opinion diva: “I think it’s great that Angela de Jong is sitting on the couch watching with a glass of sherry and thinking: how nice, people are interacting… And of course: you can agree with one or the other, but that’s why we are here. That’s the only reason we are here, right?