A video clip with a fake Der Spiegel logo is being circulated on social media, claiming that 62% of Germans would like to see Putin as Chancellor of Germany. The video is fake: Der Spiegel did not conduct or publish any such survey, and the quote attributed to political scientist Christoph Bieber is fabricated. Real sociological data show the opposite — 86% of German citizens do not trust Putin.
A video clip is spreading on social media featuring a logo and design that imitates the style of the German news outlet Der Spiegel. The video claims that, according to a survey conducted by “German journalists,” 62% of German citizens would prefer Putin as chancellor over any current German politician. The video also includes a quote from German political scientist Christoph Bieber, who compares the current chancellor, Friedrich Merz, to a character from the American sitcom “A.L.F.”
However, this video is fake. Der Spiegel has not published such content, and Christoph Bieber has not made these statements.
The StopFake team has checked the official Der Spiegel channels — the website spiegel.de, as well as the outlet’s social media accounts. There is no content, article, or survey confirming the claim about “62% of Germans supporting Putin as chancellor.” The forgery is revealed by the fact that the video is in English, whereas Der Spiegel runs its social media exclusively in German. There is also an English-language version, Spiegel International, but it has not published anything on this topic either. Moreover, Spiegel International is only active on Facebook and has not posted Reels since 2021.
The video also includes a quote from German political scientist Christoph Bieber claiming that Merz resembles a father from the TV series “A.L.F” more than a national leader. Christoph Bieber is indeed a real German political scientist and professor at the University of Duisburg-Essen. However, he has never made statements supporting Putin. His academic work focuses on digital ethics, the impact of social media on politics, and protecting democracy from disinformation. On the contrary, Bieber has repeatedly warned about manipulation tactics resembling those used by the Kremlin.
Real sociological data directly contradict this fake. According to a large international study by the Pew Research Center (conducted in 25 countries between January and April 2025), in every surveyed European country, the majority does not trust Putin. In Germany, 86% of respondents said they do not have much or any confidence in Putin to do the right thing in global affairs. Overall, across the 25 countries surveyed, the median shows that 84% of adults have little or no confidence in Putin regarding his actions in international affairs, while only 15% express at least some confidence.
A similar trend is observed in attitudes toward Russia:“In 18 countries surveyed, most adults have an unfavorable view of Russia. In many of them, this view is strongly negative. 78% in Sweden, 70% in Poland, 66% in the Netherlands, and 65% in Australia describe their attitude this way”.
Last year, Russian propaganda launched a similar fake about France. Learn more in our article Fake: 71% of French Dream of Putin Leading Their Country – Le Figaro.
