Migration debate

Accusations of racism against German Chancellor Scholz

Olaf Scholz caused quite a stir with his comments about a CDU politician on the fringes of a birthday party.(Bild: APA/AFP/Sascha Schuermann)

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is facing accusations of racism. The SPD politician described Berlin's Senator for Culture Joe Chialo as a "fig leaf" and "court jester" of his party at a private birthday party (CDU).

According to German media reports, the term "court jester" was used in a conversation about migration and racism in connection with the CDU's recent asylum policy attempts. Chialo had remarked that he was on the party's federal executive and was clearly not an "old white man". "And then the Chancellor said this sentence: 'Yes, every party has a court jester'," reported "Focus" editor-in-chief Georg Meck in an interview. Chialo was dismayed and speechless.

Berlin's Senator for Culture Joe Chialo(Bild: APA/AFP/John MACDOUGALL)

Scholz finds accusations "absurd and artificially constructed"
Scholz rejected the accusations on Wednesday in Berlin as "absurd and artificially constructed". "Personally, I value Joe Chialo as an important liberal voice in the CDU/CSU," he added. In the "Spiegel" "Top Talk", the Social Democrat said that he was "blindsided" when he saw the reporting.

Topic over for CDU politician after phone call
"I can be accused of anything, but certainly not of being a racist," Scholz clarified. He had never linked the "court jester" comment to Chialo's skin color. The accusation made him "personally very concerned". He values Chialo and regrets that he made the statement about himself. "I just didn't say what has been reported." As the Deutsche Presse-Agentur learned from government circles, Scholz spoke to Chialo on the phone that evening.

In a written statement to the Deutsche Presse-Agentur on Thursday, the Senator for Culture explained that he had found the remarks in conversation with him "disparaging and hurtful". After a telephone conversation with the Chancellor, however, the matter is now closed for him.