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Paddling around on the smartphone at the Prime Minister's Conference and belittling the Chancellor as "Merkelchen": Just a few days after the start of the hype about the Clubhouse talk app in Germany, the first top politician was already in trouble with casual chats.
And the criticism of Thuringia's Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow after his casual appearance in the app has not yet subsided - on Monday it was also loud in Ramelow's own cabinet.
The left-wing politician has now apologized in various ways for his statements on Saturday night.
The communicative faux pas could also continue to haunt him in the new week.
Ramelow joined a group of many young people late on Friday evening.
In the course of the conversation, which up to 3,000 people listened to, he spoke about the Prime Minister's Conference (MPK).
He referred to the Chancellor as "Merkelchen" and revealed that he also played up to ten levels "Candy Crush", a popular mobile phone game, in the MPK.
Johannes Boie, editor-in-chief of WELT AM SONNTAG, reported on it.
Ramelow complained about the publication.
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The FDP parliamentary group vice Michael Theurer asked on Monday the question of the “self-control of some politicians” when it comes to the Clubhouse app.
"Just as Robert Habeck once uninstalled Twitter because he lacked the discipline for this app, similar questions arise when Philipp Amthor (CDU) or Bodo Ramelow serenades at night," said the Bundestag member of the German Press Agency .
Ramelow is regarded as a person who is very affine for new media and likes to use their different channels for his communication.
The latest hit at the moment is the Clubhouse audio app.
In the social media app from the USA, users can take part in panel discussions.
According to the app, Ramelow has been registered since January 21.
"Merkelchen" taken out of context?
"Some play Sudoku, others play chess or Scrabble on their cell phones, and I play 'Candy Crush'", Ramelow told dpa on Sunday.
The report that he called the Chancellor "Merkelchen" had been taken out of context, said the left-wing politician of the dpa.
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Above all, the Prime Minister must defend himself against the accusation that he is not acting responsibly in the most important deliberations in the fight against the corona pandemic.
"If it turns out that Bodo Ramelow is playing mobile phone games during the Prime Minister's Conference, then he should check his behavior," Thuringia's Interior Minister Georg Maier (SPD) told the editorial network Germany (RND).
"The situation is too serious for that."
Ramelow tried to keep the damage as small as possible aggressively and with numerous apologies.
"From now on, when I turn on this format, I notice that in the back of my mind I have the learning curve from the day before yesterday and yesterday," said the left-wing politician on Sunday at a renewed appearance at Clubhouse.
The analysis of a media service that the enemy is always listening has now been internalized with regard to the app.
"Act of Male Ignorance"
He explicitly apologized for the phrase “Merkelchen”: “A clever woman has just conclusively explained the actual faux pas of my clubhouse chat to me on @clubhouse_de and it convinced me,” Ramelow tweeted on Sunday evening.
“To belittle the name of the Chancellor was an act of male ignorance.
I sincerely apologize for that. "
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Ramelow defended himself that he sometimes played "Candy Crush" during the federal-state consultations.
If you know that a prime ministerial conference currently lasts around ten hours and contains a lot of idle time, “then I like to admit that one person is playing Sudoku, the other is knitting or crocheting or doing whatever - and I just play 'Candy Crush'. "
Thuringia's CDU boss Christian Hirte considers this to be disrespectful and irresponsible.
"Either it is an expression of arrogance of power or fatigue," wrote Hirte on Sunday on Twitter.
Fighting the corona pandemic is about life and death as well as the livelihoods and the future of a generation of students.
"Anyone who understands his office as Prime Minister in this way is losing the trust of the citizens," wrote Hirte.
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The Thuringian FDP parliamentary group described Ramelow's actions in the corona pandemic as chaotic, the AfD member of the Bundestag Stephan Brandner rated Ramelow as “embarrassing for Thuringia”.
From the point of view of FDP politician Theurer, Ramelow's revelations give an idea of "how things are going with the level of discussion in the escalating prime ministerial groups". “The fact that this round de facto has shifted a large part of the legislative functions in Germany from the Bundestag and Landtag to the back room is completely unacceptable. The decisions and the discussion about them have to go back to the parliaments, ”said Theurer of the dpa - thereby repeating a demand made time and again by the liberals.