German candidate sorry for laughing scene in flood visit
ABC News
The front-runner to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany’s September election has apologized for a scene in which he was seen laughing in the background as the country’s president delivered a statement on the devastating floods in western Germany
BERLIN -- The front-runner to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany's September election has apologized for a scene in which he was seen laughing in the background as the country's president delivered a statement on the devastating floods in western Germany. Armin Laschet, the candidate of Merkel's center-right Union bloc to be Germany's next leader, is also the governor of North Rhine-Westphalia state — one of two badly hit by last week's floods. On Saturday, he visited the town of Erfstadt, which was the scene of a dramatic rescue effort after the ground gave way, with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. While Steinmeier gave 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 Sunday's Bild am Sonntag newspaper that Laschet's behavior was “lacking in decency and appalling.”More Related News