Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, a leading pro-Ukraine voice from the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), said Scholz had also used the phrase to describe her and other vocal supporters of Kyiv, including SPD lawmaker Michael Roth and Green MP Toni Hofreiter.
Strack-Zimmermann has been one of the most vocal critics of Scholz’s reluctance to send long-range weapons to Ukraine, often clashing with him in public over what she saw as his risk-averse leadership.
“This became known internally a year ago,” she wrote on X. “Scholz probably doesn’t remember anymore. Any more questions?”
The jibe about not remembering alludes to Scholz’s testimony in a major financial scandal — the Cum-Ex tax fraud case — in which he repeatedly claimed to have no recollection of key meetings.
A government spokesperson pushed back against the tantrum allegation, calling the accusation “absurd” and invoking former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama’s famous mantra: “When they go low, we go high.”
The timing of the revelation adds to Scholz’s leadership woes, and follows a previous controversy in which he allegedly referred to Berlin’s culture senator Joe Chialo of the CDU as a “court jester” for the conservative party.
