[4][5] On 22 August 2015 Sigmar Gabriel, the then-Chairman of the Social Democratic Party and Vice-Chancellor of Germany had used "wir schaffen das" to refer to the coalition government's refugee policy.
[9] Holocaust survivor Ruth Klüger called it a "simple and heroic slogan" while speaking at a commemoration marking the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of National Socialism at the Bundestag.
[10] Journalists have also made amendments to the phrase; writing in Wiener Zeitung, Thomas Seifert in an editorial wrote "wir müssen das schaffen" (English: "we must do it").
[13] Writing for Focus, Martina Fietz wrote that "wir schaffen das" would likely appear in any biographical material written about Merkel in the future, describing the phrase as representing "the most controversial decision of her chancellorship".
[14] In November 2018 Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the then-Secretary General of the Christian Democratic Union, used "wir schaffen das" several times during a CDU party conference, referring not to asylum seekers but to family policies.
[15] In August 2019 Boris Johnson, the then-Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, used "wir schaffen das" during a joint conference held with Merkel, in reference to Anglo-British discussions concerning Brexit.
She stated she understood German citizens' scepticism about the phrase, but explained "it is part of my political work, because I am convinced that we are a strong country that will come out of this phase stronger.
[5] The day after the Berlin state election, in which the CDU lost 5.7% of the vote, Merkel said "wir schaffen das" had turned into an "unproductive endless loop" and that it was insufficient to describe problems associated with the migrant crisis.
[18] In September 2015 Horst Seehofer, the then-Minister-President of Bavaria, was quoted as saying "wir schaffen das nicht", criticising Merkel's sentiments and stating that he felt there was no way to "plug back in the bottle".
[21] De Maizière was not the only CDU politician to criticise Merkel's statement; Bundestag member Hans-Peter Uhl said "wir schaffen das so nicht" (English: "we can't do it that way").
[22] Sharing similar sentiments, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said that unless fewer refugees were taken in, "sonst schaffen wir das nicht" (English: "otherwise we won't be able to do it").
[24] That same month Alexander Gauland, the Brandenburg state chairman for the right-wing Alternative for Germany party coined the phrase "wir wollen das gar nicht schaffen" (English: "we don't want to do it") during a speech in Erfurt.
[25] There was also opposition in among left-wing parties; Boris Palmer, the mayor of Tübingen from Alliance 90/The Greens, repeated the phrase "we can't do it", and called on the government to place a limit on the number of refugees coming into Germany.
[31] Markus Feldenkirchen in Der Spiegel said the phrase alienated conservative German voters, stating the use of "wir" (English: "we") was "ineffective", asking "who are 'we' when all borders are open?".
[37] On 14 February 2018 during a speech commemorating Ash Wednesday in Demmin, Merkel said "ich bin überzeugt, wir schaffen das" (English: "I am convinced that we can do it"), in response to the slow formation of a new government.
[38] Following the 2018 Münster attack, Beatrix von Storch, the deputy leader of the AfD's parliamentary group, posted on Twitter that the suspect had been an "imitator of Islamic terror".