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BERLIN (AP) – The frontrunner to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany’s September elections has apologized for a scene in which he was seen laughing in the background as the country’s president made a statement on the devastating floods in western Germany.
Armin Laschet, Merkel’s center-right Union bloc candidate for Germany’s next ruler, is also governor of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia – one of two hard hit by the floods from last week. On Saturday, he traveled to the town of Erfstadt, which was the scene of a dramatic rescue effort after the soil gave way, with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
As Steinmeier made a statement to reporters after the visit, Laschet and a group of others stood in the background. Photos showed him turning to someone else and laughing.
Lars Klingbeil, the general secretary of the center-left Social Democrats, told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper on Sunday that Laschet’s behavior was “lacking in decency and appalling”.
“They say the character of people shows itself in times of crisis,” he added.
Laschet took to Twitter on Saturday evening to explain himself and thank Steinmeier for his visit.
“The plight of those affected, whom we have heard about in many conversations, is important to us,” he wrote. “So I regret all the more the impression that emerged from a conversation situation. It was inappropriate and I’m sorry.
The Union bloc is currently at the top of the polls ahead of the Greens ecologists, with the Social Democrats in third place. The election is September 26.
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