Much of the Western media are reflexively adoring of outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Jennifer Rubin says Merkel is “the most resolute leader on the continent when it comes to Russia and defense of Europe.” At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, New York magazine’s Justin Davidson lauded Merkel for her “direct, honest, and searingly empathic” address. CNN’s Stephen Collinson proclaims Merkel the “moral leader of the West.”