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Bodo Ramelow: Thuringia's Prime Minister has defended himself against the accusation of being inattentive at Corona conferences
Photo: Bodo Schackow / dpa
Thuringia's Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow caused a scandal last weekend with his appearance at the social media service Clubhouse.
The left-wing politician came under criticism, among other things, because he had called the Chancellor "Merkelchen" on the social network.
Now he is remorseful.
"I very much regret this formulation," Ramelow told the weekly newspaper "Die Zeit".
“I should have spoken of Ramelowchen or Söderchen or Kretschmännchen.
Instead, I spoke of a woman.
That was stupid and looked disrespectful.
As a result, I showed masculine power without even realizing it. "He didn't want to attack Angela Merkel or disparage her," but I did it.
I have now personally apologized to the Chancellor. "
At the same time, Ramelow has defended himself against the accusation of being inattentive in the Prime Minister's Conference (MPK).
»Some media generate the image that I wouldn't listen to the MPK, just sit there and play.
As if I were irresponsible and empathetic and didn't care about the dead, ”says Ramelow in the interview with“ Die Zeit ”.
The opposite is the case.
"Corona is giving me sleepless nights."
Ramelow was the first to take a detailed public position on the scandal.
Last weekend he had also reported at Clubhouse that he sometimes played "Candy Crush" on the mobile phone in the MPK.
"I can understand the outrage if you only look at the published opinion of the past few days," says Ramelow.
"Others smoke a cigarette or walk down the aisle."
Bodo Ramelow
When asked whether, as head of government, he shouldn't have to be in such a meeting at any moment, Ramelow replied: “When we, as Prime Minister, sit with the Chancellor for more than ten hours, phases of extreme tension alternate with phases in which one is brief Seeking diversion. ”There are always long interruptions.
Those are moments »when some colleagues do the mail.
Others smoke a cigarette or walk down the hall.
I play on the phone.
And I'm definitely not the only one. ”You have to be wide awake when decisions are made or passages of text are being edited.
In the interview, the left-wing politician also defends himself against the assertion that he was tempted to make his statements by the intimate atmosphere at Clubhouse: »An atmosphere of familiarity arises, yes, and it's seductive.
But I didn't get in anywhere.
That just got me excited!
There were a lot of young people.
Manuela Schwesig was there too.
I never forgot for a second that this is public. ”Despite his unsuccessful appearance, Ramelow has no regrets:“ I am now both for this app: advertising and warning sign.
In future, usage competence will be measured in the Ramelow unit.
Friday night was a zero Ramelow.
But I just wanted to take advantage of this attempt to get in contact with people, «said the Prime Minister.
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