ODD / ODD NEWS
Austria’s Kurz sworn in with soap opera subtitles in TV re-run gaffe
Published: Jan 09, 2020 05:33 PM

Sebastian Kurz, the leader of Austria’s People’s party, arrives at a polling station during snap elections in Vienna on Sunday. Austria held snap elections after a corruption scandal caused the dramatic collapse of the previous right-wing coalition government. Photo: AFP

Austrian television's web replay of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz's swearing-in ceremony went viral Wednesday after it mistakenly aired with soap opera subtitles suggesting he was offering the president a job as a housemaid.

Kurz was sworn in Tuesday as the world's youngest democratically elected leader at the head of an unlikely coalition with the Greens following the collapse of his Conservatives' previous alliance with the far-right.

 The subtitles appeared on the ORF public television website in a rerun of the ceremony led by President Alexander van der Bellen, lending a surreal air to the event in the luxurious Hofburg Palace in Vienna.

Excerpts of the broadcast, which carried text from the German soap opera Alisa, follow your heart that had run just before, went viral with the amusing words.

Under footage of Kurz with the president, the caption had a quote inquiring if he was "interested in a job as a housemaid."