German Chancellor Olaf Scholz posted a photograph of himself on Thursday sporting an eyepatch over his right eye which was surrounded by bruises.
“[He] who has the damage…” he wrote to Twitter, referencing a German idiom about being joked about after an accident or bad luck.
“I look forward to the memes. Thanks for the well wishes, looks worse than it is!” he added in the post accompanying the photograph.
Wer den Schaden hat…
Bin gespannt auf die Memes. Danke für die guten Wünsche, sieht schlimmer aus, als es ist! pic.twitter.com/bB5INX8HnM— Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (@Bundeskanzler) September 4, 2023
Scholz, 65, fell while jogging and sustained bruises on his face on Saturday forcing him to cancel a citizens’ dialogue event later that day as well as all his Sunday engagements, Deutsche Welle (DW) reported. The government reportedly called the incident “a small sports accident.” (RELATED: Famous Actress Reveals On-Set Injury After Being Hit In Face With A Gun)
“He was in quite a good mood this morning, but still looks a bit battered,” spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said, adding that Scholz’s pirate-style photo was shared “so that everyone can get used to how he will look in the next week or two,” the Associated Press reported.
Gute Besserung auch von uns! pic.twitter.com/xrWFj5FxQy
— ZDF heute-show (@heuteshow) September 4, 2023
The memes did follow Scholz’s post thick and fast, with a satire show from German broadcaster ZDF posting a meme showing a scene from “Pirates of the Caribbean” with the caption, “Get well soon from us too!”
Na dann starrrrten wir mal mit den memes! https://t.co/40vLXdglBy pic.twitter.com/HP1HYmKYv6
— Erdkedz™ (@ErdkedzTM) September 4, 2023
Scholz by his own admission hated sports until he met his wife of 25 years, Britta Ernst, according to his Social Democratic Party profile. “Today, I jog as frequently as possible. I try to make time two or three times a week for exercise — jogging, rowing or hiking. We also like cycling,” he added.