In the election campaign, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is harder to connect with voters through his speeches, according to rhetoric trainer Michael Ehlers, compared to CDU’s candidate for Chancellor, Friedrich Merz.
“His capabilities to shine in rhetoric are much more limited than Merz’s” he said to the Rheinische Post (Thursday edition). “As Chancellor, he appears introverted, calm, reserved, and little communicative. Communication is always a space that needs to be filled: If I don’t fill it as a Chancellor of a whole nation, then others will.”
Ehlers evaluated the Chancellor’s appearance after he fired Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) as “absolute catastrophe”. He said, “It’s not acceptable for a Chancellor to publicly stand and reveal personal sentiments. While everyone can have them, in this office, where he represents a whole country, he must remain sovereign and moderate.”
He added, “In my view, this has severely damaged Scholz. Through this lack of sovereignty, he has lost points with potential future political partners. The citizens also have a sense of whether someone has leadership competence or not. People take it particularly badly when someone after a dismissal takes the stage.