Michelle Obama is 'suntanned'? Berlusconi's Top 5 gaffes
(Read article summary)Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi called President Obama 'tanned' ... again. And this time he brought the First Lady Michelle Obama into it.
There he goes again.
That President-Obama-is-"tanned" line, apparently, doesn't get old for Italy's flamboyant, controverial Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
So, he trotted it out again, this time in reference to First Lady Michelle Obama.
At a rally on Sunday night Mr. Berlusconi said: "I have to bring you some greetings, greetings from a man, what is his name, what is his name – just a minute it was someone with a tan – ah, Barack Obama."
He then added: "You won't believe it, but they went together to the beach to get a tan because even his wife is suntanned."
If you're hearing crickets, you're not alone. But Mr. Berlusconi got a nice chuckle out of it, and so did his audience of cheering, smiling supporters. (video below)
Racist gaffe?
Italy's opposition, as usual, is making a stink. "He makes us look ridiculous before the whole world," said L'Unita the opposition newspaper in a front-page article, adding that the comment was "a racist gaffe." The left-leaning La Repubblica said it was a "reckless comment."
Berlusconi last year called Obama "young, handsome, and tanned," and the past few years are littered with his high-profile buffoonery (see Top 5 below), comments that are usually referred to as "gaffes" even though a gaffe (ask Vice President Joe Biden) usually implies that the guilty party actually made a mistake.
