"Court jester": Scholz was under investigation because of his long tongue

The Berlin Prosecutor's office is conducting a check to establish the possible fact of an offense committed by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the Tagesspiegel newspaper writes.

The reason for the proceedings was the behavior of the politician at a closed party in mid—February, at which Scholz called Berlin Culture Minister Joe Chialo, a German citizen of Tanzanian origin, a "court jester."

The incident occurred when the Chancellor was discussing with Bild Vice President Paul Ronzheimer the decision of the CDU/CSU faction in the Bundestag to vote together with the pro-Russian Alternative for Germany party for tightening migration policy. CDU representative Chialo intervened in the conversation, who paid for his own party's decision to break the "firewall" with an insult from Scholz.

"The court jester and the fig leaf of the CDU," the chancellor dubbed his opponent.

It was the first of the definitions that caused the scandal. Georg Meck, editor of Focus magazine, who was also present at the conversation, later publicized Scholz's remark, accusing the chancellor of racism. The head of the CDU, Friedrich Merz, later said that he was simply "speechless" by such an insult, and called on Scholz to apologize. Scholz later admitted that he had indeed called the Berlin Minister of Culture that way, but rejected accusations of racism.

Chialo himself, who has refrained from commenting for a long time, said that the chancellor called him and expressed regret that his words were considered racist.

"This phrase was insulting and humiliating," he said, however, according to media reports, he did not file a statement against Scholz, unlike other anonymous accusers.

Thus, the retiring Chancellor is a defendant in the case of public insult of "a person involved in the political life of the people" and can be sentenced to up to three years in prison. Nevertheless, experts agree that the case is likely to be closed even before the investigation begins.