Merkel Pours Cold Water on Scholz’s Claim to Be Her Heir
- Chancellor points to ‘huge difference’ with front-runner
- Merkel says Scholz has a vague stance on Left alliance
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Angela Merkel took direct aim at efforts by Finance Minister Olaf Scholz to assume her mantle to help topple her conservative bloc in the Sept. 26 election.
Scholz, who has engineered an unlikely poll surge for his Social Democratic party to become the favorite for chancellor, has conducted an unsubtle campaign to project himself as the rightful successor of Merkel’s legacy. But with her Christian Democrat-led block foundering in the polls, she pushed back on Tuesday.