German Chancellor Olaf Scholz faced criticism after referring to Joe Chialo, a Black CDU politician and Berlin’s state minister for culture, as his party’s “jester” during a private reception in Berlin.
The incident, reported by German magazine Focus on February 12, sparked accusations of racism, which Scholz firmly denied. In his response on social media platform X, he acknowledged using the term but insisted it had no racist intent or connotation.
The accusation of racism is absurd and artificially constructed. Personally, I value Joe Chialo as an important liberal voice in the CDU/CSU.
The remark was made in the context of recent political developments in Germany, where the conservative CDU/CSU alliance voted with the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on a parliamentary motion to restrict migration. The move was criticised by liberal voices within the CDU, including former Chancellor Angela Merkel, who called it “wrong.”
Scholz explained that his comment was a response to the observation that only a few liberal voices within the CDU had opposed the party’s alignment with the AfD. Meanwhile, Joe Chialo described Scholz’s words as “derogatory and hurtful” but clarified that he does not consider the Chancellor to be a racist.
I hope we can return to a fair and objective dialogue.
The incident has drawn sharp criticism from other CDU/CSU representatives. Friedrich Merz, the CDU’s chancellor candidate, accused Scholz of hypocrisy.
This is the Chancellor who always calls for respect, but obviously only for himself.
The SPD leadership has taken legal action against Focus, accusing the magazine of deliberately framing Scholz’s words in a racist context. Party Secretary-General Matthias Miersch stated that the publication’s portrayal was misleading and damaging.
Joe Chialo, a former music manager, joined the Berlin state government in 2023 after the CDU won the state election in the capital. His appointment marked a significant shift in Berlin’s political landscape.
