Germany, Laschet apologizes for joking in places affected by floods

“The fate of the people who have been affected is important to us. That is why I deeply regret the impression created by the colloquial situation. It was inappropriate and I apologize.” Thus Armin Laschet, the candidate for chancellor of the CDU in the next elections to decide the successor of Angela Merkel, apologized on Twitter for the embarrassing photograph, which shows him joking with other people while in the foreground the president Frank-Walter Steinmeier speaks in a locality hit by floods which caused at least 156 deaths. The CDU leader’s apology comes after Lars Klingbeil, secretary general of the SPD, described his behavior as “shocking and lacking in decency”.