ROME — Italians never quite know whether to laugh or cry at Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. But many reacted with incredulity and outrage after the prime minister amiably called the first African-American president-elect in United States history “young, handsome and suntanned.”
Many Italian newspapers gave the comment nearly as much front-page attention as Mr. Obama’s victory itself. The journalist Curzio Maltese wrote “Mr. Berlusconi never fails to live up to our worst expectations.”
Mr. Berlusconi excels at deflating such lofty talk. He said that his remark had been “a compliment” and that his critics lacked irony. He said the Italian left was wrong about everything, “including their lack of a sense of humor.” He added: “Too bad for them. God save us from imbeciles.”
In Brussels on Friday, when Mr. Berlusconi was asked by a reporter if he would apologize, he said whoever had asked the question should be added to “the list” of imbeciles, Bloomberg News reported. “You should apologize to Italy,” it quoted him as saying.
In 2002, he said that Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark was “so handsome I’m thinking of introducing him to my wife.”
In 2003, he compared a German in the European Parliament to a Nazi concentration camp guard.
In 2005, he caused a diplomatic commotion after hinting that he had persuaded the Finnish president, Tarja Halonen, to back Italy to host the European Food Safety Authority by wooing her. “I had to use all my playboy tactics, even if they have not been used for some time,” he said.
Yet Mr. Berlusconi’s latest gaffe seemed to tap into a deep well of anger at him, which is at least as strong as his high approval ratings.
