Press reviews
“Dear Mr. Laschet: Stop laughing”: After Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet had to laugh in the flood area, the excitement is great – also in the media. The press reviews.
The Federal President wants to donate consolation. To those who have lost loved ones, house, yard and business as a result of the floods. While Steinmeier expresses dismay, Armin Laschet, who stands behind him, laughs. The slip on Saturday for the North Rhine-Westphalian Prime Minister has provoked sharp criticism.
Commentators describe Laschet’s laugh as “inappropriate, unprofessional, insensitive”. The Union’s candidate for chancellor could “this moment of inattention still nastily fall on the feet.” The press reviews.
The media response to the Laschet-Lacher in the flood area
“Stuttgarter Zeitung”: “Baerbock’s restraint is wise, Laschet’s appearance is not always stylish. Misunderstanding sentences and scenes that can be instrumentalized for malicious video snippets can quickly turn these difficult days into Baerbock’s moment – an unexpected stumbling block. Merkel cleverly avoided it that their appearance gives cause for misinterpretation as an election campaign show for Laschet. Determination is required, but words and deeds must be weighed with great caution. “
“Rhein-Zeitung” (Koblenz): “The region first needs practical help – and money. A lot of money. There are no quick answers to the disaster, except for this one. Politicians have to look and help practically. Immediately. So, dear Ms. Baerbock: Learn the meaning of this word. She embodies reality and bursts green seminaristic filter bubbles. And, dear Mr. Laschet: Stop laughing. Best immediately. Instead, take an example from your party colleague Angela Merkel. She has promised to come back. When she comes back we’ll see if ‘immediately’ actually meant ‘immediately’. That’s how chancellorship works. “
“Westphalian News” (Münster): “The Federal President expresses his condolences to the victims of the flood disaster, and Chancellor candidate Laschet giggles in the background. His prompt pardon with all due respect – this picture and the impression conveyed by it will accompany the humorous Rhinelander in the election campaign for even longer. (.. .) To deny him the chancellor format because of this undoubtedly embarrassing, irresponsible and irreverent incident seems inappropriate. “
“Swabian Newspaper” (Ravensburg): “Grinning and joking while the Federal President speaks, while helpers fight on the verge of exhaustion and people stand in front of the ruins of their existence, that is inappropriate, unprofessional, insensitive, no question. This moment of inattention can still be angry with the Chancellor candidate Fall on your feet. The past few weeks have shown how quickly the mood can change in this election campaign. To read from a 20-second video snippet a character unsuitable for the highest government office, but shows how in the constantly excited political debate gradually The sense of what is essential is lost. This applies to Laschets Lacher as well as to the missing footnotes in the book by his competitor Annalena Baerbock. “
“New Osnabrück Newspaper”: “You are probably doing Armin Laschet wrong if you question the sincerity of his sympathy. But the lack of professionalism raises doubts as to whether he already has the status of a statesman. Even a cheerful Rhenish nature should have an instinct for a dignified appearance in such painful moments Laschet should have apprenticed to Angela Merkel. The Chancellor may have made mistakes during her reign, but one thing cannot be denied: She is a state woman through and through. Merkel hit the right note on her visit to the crisis region. For the Union chancellor candidate, the race for chancellorship is not yet lost, but Laschet can no longer afford such missteps. “
“Nordwest-Zeitung” (Oldenburg): “A certain pattern emerges in the election campaign: Both favorites for the Chancellery, both Laschet and Baerbock, fail on the federal political stage. This is all the more noticeable because Angela Merkel would certainly not have happened. A smirking Chancellor in the disaster area? Difficult to imagine, Laschet should be from incumbent Merkel So now, as quickly as possible, take a look at an important property: make it as invisible as possible. After all, that worked for years. “
“Badish newspaper”: “Laschet could be seen laughing, even smirking, when Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke to the people in Erftstadt on Saturday. This may be explainable from the situation – maybe someone made a gallows-humorous remark and laughing is healthy. In But it was very unsuitable for the situation, and long-term political consequences could not be ruled out apologized. It is up to them whether the local people grant it to him. The political competition would do well not to exploit Laschet’s mistakes any further – they too are not immune to stylistic errors. “
“Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger”: “Soon after the pictures of the North Rhine-Westphalian Prime Minister, who is grinning in the disaster area during a speech in the back of the Federal President, another recording is making the rounds. It now shows a joking Frank-Walter Steinmeier – in Laschet’s back, while speaking of a catastrophe of the century It is a media disaster. In principle, one is allowed to laugh in disaster situations. Sometimes there is no other way to cope with them. But statesmen like Laschet and Steinmeier should have a grip on themselves when it comes to expressing condolences or encouraging people. “
“Frankfurter Rundschau”: “A politician who appears publicly does not do it as a private person, of course. He has to be a ‘functionary’ in a positive sense. In this case he had the function of being touched, showing solidarity with those affected and showing empathy to give expression to an entire country. Something like that is not a show. It serves to symbolically show collective compassion in the person of a man who claims to represent the collective. Whoever cannot ‘function’ as a politician in this sense, is simply unsuitable for one of the highest offices in the state. If he laughs in the wrong place privately, okay. But then he should look for a future as a private person. “
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