The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has posted a photo of himself wearing an eyepatch after injuring his face while jogging.
Scholz sustained minor injuries after falling while out running at the weekend, forcing him to cancel some appointments. On Monday, he posted a picture on X, formerly known as Twitter, showing him wearing a black patch over his right eye, with red scrape marks visible around the edge.
“Thanks for the well wishes. It looks worse than it is!” he wrote under the picture on his official account, adding: “Excited to see the memes.”
There were memes aplenty, including featuring a cartoon pirate brandishing a cutlass, a pirate at a ship’s wheel, and Scholz wearing a hat with a skull and crossbones on it and holding a sword.
There were also many messages wishing him a speedy recovery. His tweet had racked up more than 9,000 likes and 2,000 comments soon after it was posted.
The chancellor’s spokesperson, Steffen Hebestreit, said Scholz – who has been a regular runner for several years – was in good form despite the injury. He planned to attend his scheduled appointments this week, including a tour of the IAA car show in Munich on Tuesday and a speech in parliament on Wednesday.
“He’s doing well under the circumstances,” Hebestreit told a regular press briefing. “He was in a good mood this morning, although he still looks a little battered.”
English (US)