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From calling Barack Obama “tanned” to telling earthquake survivors they should think of it as “a weekend of camping,” the 86-year-old billionaire media mogul’s outrageous comments regularly got him in trouble.
Monday 12 June 2023 at 12:02, UK
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is not known for his sensitivity and certainly has no shortage of controversial remarks.
this 86 year old billionaire The media mogul’s sense of humor often gets him in trouble.
Here, we take a look at some of his most embarrassing, offensive and offensive comments.
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Sweet letter to Putin when Russia invaded Ukraine
Last October, Berlusconi Despite Western outrage over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he has staunchly backed his old friend Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The former Italian leader said the Russian leader sent him a “very sweet letter” — and he responded with one.
“Putin sent me 20 bottles of vodka and a very sweet letter on my birthday. I replied with bottles of Lambrusco and an equally sweet letter,” he said.
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Calls Obama ‘handsome’ and ‘tanned’
In a series of controversial remarks, Berlusconi also described Barack Obama as “handsome, young and dark”.
He said this to Obama in November 2008 after he was elected president of the United States and became the country’s first black president.
Tell earthquake survivors they should think of it as a ‘camping weekend’
Back in 2009, Berlusconi visited earthquake survivors in the Abruzzo region of central Italy, who were living in emergency tents.
“They should think of it as a camping weekend,” he said.
The earthquake killed about 300 people and left tens of thousands homeless.
Vatican newspaper condemns ‘regrettable’ joke
Berlusconi was also condemned by the Vatican’s official newspaper in October 2010 after he told a joke about a Jew who accused other Jews of hiding from the Nazis in his basement without telling them World War II was over .
He made a series of other jokes, which the official Vatican newspaper, the Roman Observer, described as “regrettable”.
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Berlusconi: “It’s better to like pretty girls than gays”
The former Italian prime minister also sparked controversy over offensive remarks he made in 2010.
He dismissed calls to resign over reports he helped a 17-year-old girl partying at his house, saying “it’s better to like pretty girls than to be gay”.
Berlusconi has refused to apologize for his liking for young women and has denied any wrongdoing.
“As always, my work is undisturbed, and if once in a while I happen to see a pretty girl’s face, it’s better to like a pretty girl than to be gay,” he told a motorcycle industry show in Milan.
West should ‘be aware of the superiority of our civilization’
Berlusconi also boasted about the “supremacy” and “superiority” of Western civilization, and aimed his finger at Islamic countries.
In October 2001, he said that while the West has a value system, “in the countries that embrace it, people achieve widespread prosperity and guarantee respect for human rights and religion … Such respect certainly does not exist in Islamic countries.”
Rude gesture behind the back of the Spanish foreign minister at the time
Berlusconi sparked controversy when he held up two fingers behind the head of then-Spanish foreign minister Josep Pique – a traditional Latin gesture for wearing a cuckold – during a group photo at an informal EU summit in Spain in 2002 .
“Mussolini never killed anyone” – Berlusconi
He also claimed that fascist dictator Benito Mussolini “never killed anyone”.
“Mussolini never killed anyone. Mussolini sent people on vacation in (internal) exile,” Berlusconi told Spectator magazine in 2004, when asked if he thought the second When the dictators of World War I were “benevolent,” he answered “yes.”
“I am the Jesus Christ of politics”
In February 2006, Italian media also quoted Berlusconi saying to his supporters: “I am the Jesus Christ of politics.
“I am a patient victim, I put up with everyone, I sacrifice myself for everyone.”
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