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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is sorry he insulted President Barack Obama – sort of. He now “regrets” that calling Obama “son of a whore” caused so much controversy.
Duterte lashed out at the United States for raising questions about a “drug war” that has killed 2,400 Filipinos. The United States responded by canceling a meeting. Tuesday, Duterte tried to walk the comment back. “Not personal,” he said.
The incident, unsurprisingly, is making headlines. Although Duterte is fond of swearing – the man swore at the pope – it’s not every day that you hear a sitting president insult an ally. It’s certainly not every day that you hear a sitting president say the words “son of a whore.”
The White House, however, remained a bit indifferent. “We’ve noted the statements he’s made throughout the day,” said deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes.
Rhodes explained that the White House canceled the meeting because “all we were going to discuss were a series of comments. Frankly (that) did not strike us as the most constructive way to conduct a bilateral meeting.”
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