Scholz insult outrages Merz: "Almost leaves me speechless"

Berliner Morgenpost Scholz insult outrages Merz: "Almost leaves me speechless" 46 minutes • 2 minutes reading time Olaf Scholz (SPD) called Berlin's Senator for Culture Joe Chialo (CDU) a "court jester" at a private birthday party. The Chancellor has since admitted this. "The term I used does not have racist connotations in everyday language and was never intended to be so by me," Scholz was quoted as saying in a statement from the SPD party executive. Now Union Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz (69) is reacting to the incident. He writes on the X platform: "What the Chancellor said about Joe Chialo almost leaves me speechless. This is the Chancellor who always demands respect, but obviously only for himself. What he has now said about it does not make things any better. I wonder whether he will ever be able to admit that he said something wrong and maybe even apologize for it." A spokeswoman confirmed that Scholz was referring to the term "court jester" in his statement. "The accusation of racism is absurd and artificially constructed," Scholz continued. The Union, on the other hand, launched further fierce attacks against Scholz. "This is an unspeakable slip-up by the Chancellor, it is tasteless and therefore the opposite of respect. As a friend of Joe, these insults shock me," said Union parliamentary group vice-chairman Jens Spahn (CDU) to the dpa. "Olaf Scholz should apologize to him personally immediately. It is the sad end of a catastrophic chancellorship." Scholz explained that at the celebration ten days ago he had criticized the joint voting behavior of the CDU/CSU and AfD in the Bundestag. When it was pointed out that there were also liberal voices in the CDU, he replied that only very few party representatives had opposed the behavior of party leader Friedrich Merz and spoken out critically. "Personally, I value Joe Chialo as an important liberal voice in the Union."