Berlusconi calls Obama "suntanned" - again
Silvio Berlusconi refers to US president Barack Obama as "suntanned" again
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Monday, 28, Sep 2009 11:00
By Richard James.
Italy's prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has once more caused controversy after yet again referring to US president Barack Obama as "suntanned".
The 72-year-old has seen his international reputation plummet after a series of "gaffes" and the ongoing allegations over his private life involving prostitutes.
Speaking to a crowd in Milan on Sunday about his time in Pittsburgh for the G20 summit, Mr Berlusconi spoke of his meeting with the US president and his wife Michelle.
"I bring you greeting from a person who is called. a person who is suntanned.Barack Obama," he said.
"You wouldn't believe it, but they go sunbathing at the beach together - his wife is also suntanned."
The Italian PM went on to describe America's first black president as a "fine man" with a good sense of irony.
The comments follow Mrs Obama's apparent public snub of the 72-year-old at the G20 summit.
Instead of hugging and kissing Mr Berlusconi, as she did with other world leaders, Michelle Obama decided to simply shake the Italian PM's hand.
Mr Berlusconi has been dogged by scandals regarding his personal life this year ever since his wife filed for divorce and publicly criticised him for attending the birthday party of an 18-year-old girl.
Allegations involving high-class prostitutes also emerged along with images of women sunbathing topless at his private mansion in Rome.
Mr Berlusconi sparked international outrage last November when he first referred to Mr Obama as "suntanned".