President Obama bows or appears to bow(claims have been made he was actually picking up a quarter) to King Abdullah and First Lady touches Queen…which for some reason no one is suppose to touch.
I find it funny that it seems every president has national and international faux pas. How come we don’t hear about other countires?
I think it was George Bush Sr. in the early 90s who gave the peace sign while getting on a plane in another country and it offended them because to them it meant “V” which to commonwealth nations it can mean “Up Yours”…same as the middle finger in America. Or the time he was in while in Japan he became ill while on TV and threw up in the lap of the Prime Minister of Japan. While he was VP in the Reagan Administration he offended many while being shown the gas chambers of Auschwitz. He made the comment, “Boy they were big on crematoriums, weren’t they?”
President Carter delivered a speech which was notoriously mistranslated. When Carter told the Polish people he “understood their anxiety” about democracy, the translator stated that Carter “desired them sexually”.
Ronald Reagan accidently called Princess Diana, Princess David at a Gala dinner in Washington D.C. in 1982.
Oh now we get to President George Bush Jr. in 2001 made an appearance on Spanish T.V. and mispronounced Prime Minister Anzar’s name. He used the word “ansar” which means goose in Spanish. In 2004 Bush said on T.V., “Our enemies are innovative and resourceful — and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people — and neither do we.” He once tried to exit a room in China, but it was locked…world press caught it. Then in 2007 while addressing business leaders of APEC summit of world leaders in Australia, Bushed opened his address by thanking Australian Prime Minister John Howard for hosting the “OPEC Summit”, then tried to cover up saying he had invited him to the OPEC Summit next summer…Australia isn’t a member of OPEC.
Last month Obama during an exchange of gifts with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, gives Brown a collection of 25 American movies. Brittish Press viewed it as a snub towards Brown. While giving a speech due to teleprompter error, he thanked himself for hosting the party for the Taoiseach of Ireland, Brian Cowen. Of course, the Leno Show and his reference to his bowling score compared to the Special Olympics.
YAY while writing this I found a site listing several!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._presidential_faux-pas,_gaffes,_and_unfortunate_incidents
