German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said he is “excited to see the memes,” after posting a picture of himself wearing a black eye patch.
The chancellor posted a picture of him in the patch that seemed to be covering dark-red bruises on the right side of his face on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday.
The government explained Mr Scholz fell while jogging on Saturday and sustained the bruises to his face, prompting him to cancel some appointments at the weekend.
“Thanks for the well wishes, it looks worse than it is!” Mr Scholz wrote underneath the photo, dispelling any fears about his health.
Instantly, social media users began comparing the 65-year-old leader to fictional pirates including Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow from Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, and the painting of a pirate used within the opening sequence of children’s cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants.
The chancellor’s spokesperson told reporters in Berlin that he was doing well considering the circumstances.
“He was in quite a good mood this morning, but still looks a bit battered,” Steffen Hebestreit said, adding that the photo was published “so that everyone can get used to how he will look in the next week or two.”
He is expected to take part at an event in a Catholic Church event in the capital later today.
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Local media reported Mr Scholz fell while running in his hometown of Potsdam which is 28km (17 miles) southwest of the German capital.
Having hated sports at school, the chancellor jogs as often as he can, according to the Social Democratic Party of Germany website.
Mr Scholz has led Germany since December 2021.
He previously served as the country’s finance and labour minister, and as the mayor of Hamburg.