The live-TV interpreter who said "Sag mal, wie lange wollt ihr bei dem ScheiΓ bleiben?!" has made a statement. I admire him hugely for not apologizing for what he said, or even technically retracting it, at any point in this statement. Instead, he takes the opportunity to make a jab at Trump's inability to put a reasonable sentence together:
Jetzt reagiert auch Dolmetscher Frank Deja, der fΓΌr den Fauxpas gesorgt hatte. "Ich war ΓΌberzeugt, ich hΓ€tte mich stumm geschaltet. Ich habe aber im Eifer des Gefechts die falsche Taste gedrΓΌckt. Wir haben als Dolmetscher sogenannte RΓ€usper-Tasten, mit denen wir uns stummschalten kΓΆnnen. Dann geht das eben nicht ΓΌber den Sender β und meine Aussage sollte natΓΌrlich auch nicht ΓΌber den Sender gehen", erklΓ€rt er "n-tv". Seinen Zwischenruf solle man nicht als politisches Statement deuten. "Nein, das wΓ€re ganz verfehlt. Die politischen Inhalte sind nicht das Problem", meint Deja und fΓΌgt hinzu: "Ich dolmetsche stΓ€ndig Leute, mit deren politischen Inhalten ich nicht einverstanden bin. Das Problem bei Trump war, dass er auf einmal anfing, frei zu assoziieren oder dreimal hintereinander dasselbe zu sagen. Diesen wirren GedankensprΓΌngen zu folgen, ist die Schwierigkeit beim Dolmetschen." Er erklΓ€rt: "Wenn ein Redner mit geordneten Gedanken redet, dann kann man, sobald der Satz angefangen hat, schon ungefΓ€hr erahnen, wie es weitergeht. Man kann auf dieser Welle weiter surfen. Aber bei Trump ist das unmΓΆglich."
(source)
I didn't think I'd have the energy to make a translation, but what the heck, I guess I will.
Background for the non-Germans: a German professional interpreter was live-interpreting the TV broadcast of the Trump inauguration when he suddenly broke off in the middle of his interpreting and said loudly, "Tell me, how long do we have to watch this shit?!"
Of course they immediately cut his mic after that, but it was too late :D
Anyway here's my rough translation of the article excerpt above:
Interpreter Frank Deja, who committed this faux pas, has now made a statement. "I could have sworn I'd muted myself. However, in the heat of the moment, it appears I pressed the wrong button. We interpreters have what's known as a 'cough cut' button on the interpreter console, which we can use to briefly mute ourselves. Then, whatever we say next doesn't get broadcasted β and obviously that sentence wasn't supposed to be broadcasted," he explained to n-tv. His exclamation is not intended to be understood as a political statement. "No, that's not it at all. The political content is not the problem," says Deja, adding, "I often interpret for people whose politics I don't agree with. The problem with Trump was that he suddenly started free-associating or saying the same thing three times in a row. Following these incoherent mental leaps is quite a challenge for an interpreter." He explains: "When a speaker presents their thoughts in an organized way, the interpreter can more or less guess where each new sentence is going as soon as it's begun. You can surf that wave. But with Trump, this is impossible."
