It's exhausting work repeatedly doubling down on your own use of a racist slur, and now a German mayor—who used the n-word in a speech—is taking time off to reflect (and maybe use the word some more?).
As reported by the Associated Press, Boris Palmer, who is the mayor of a Germany town called Tübingen, repeatedly used the word in a speech Friday at a conference at Frankfurt University, prompting some to walk out, and others to protest, chanting, "Nazis out!"
If this was an isolated Michael Richards-like moment, it would still be bad. But this comes exactly two years after Palmer was embroiled in a scandal for using the word against a Black soccer player, Dennis Aogo, drawing ire from his own Green party, which expelled him. It's almost as if the spring air brings the n-word out of the mayor's mouth. Not even Benadryl can fix this.
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In the Friday speech, Palmer apparently painted himself as a victim of cancel culture, which historically has been a huge problem in Germany when the canceling was genocide. But then Palmer, who has a Jewish grandfather, went a step further and said that using the wrong word and being painted as a Nazi will stick to you "like the Star of David." Wow! Palmer later apologized for the Holocaust reference.
Palmer said he'd seek professional help. For the time being, he's still mayor. He was re-elected last year as an independent and has held the position since 2006.