US Sen. Coons and German Chancellor Scholz see double at Washington meeting

U.S. Sen. Chris Coons and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz were seeing double when they met in Washington, D.C., this week and went on social media to share their mirror image with the world.

The Delaware Democrat and the leader of Germany’s coalition government share an uncommon likeness, right down to their bald tops and squinty smiles, which they showed off in a selfie taken by Coons on Thursday during Scholz’s trip to the American capital to encourage U.S. support for Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia.

Scholz met with President Joe Biden as well as members of Congress, where he and Coons posed for the lighthearted image shared on their respective accounts on X, formerly Twitter.

“Wer ist wer?” Coons wrote in German over the selfie, meaning, “Who is who?”

“Great to see my Doppelgänger again — @ChrisCoons!” Scholz posted in English above a photo taken from a few feet away while the men were posing in front of Coons’ phone.

The men, separated by five years, with Scholz aged 65 and Coons his junior at 60, previously met in January at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Scholz was in Washington to emphasize the stakes of the Ukraine conflict for the U.S., Europe and others. Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week repeated his claim that the February 2022 invasion was intended to protect his nation’s interests. Kyiv insists the attack was an unprovoked aggression.

“Without the support of United States, and without the support of the European states, Ukraine will have not a chance to defend its own country,” Scholz said.

Brian P. D. Hannon, The Associated Press