Political insult explained

Political insult refers to a statement from a politician about another which contains disdainful purpose or notorious offense. They are not defined in any political protocol.

Notable political insults

• 1858, Abraham Lincoln, on Stephen Douglas: "His argument is as thin as the homeopathic soup that was made by boiling the shadow of a pigeon that had starved to death."^[1]
• 1922, Georges Clemenceau, French statesman on David Lloyd George, British politician: "Oh, if I could piss the way he speaks!"^[2]
• 1989, Paul Keating, Australian Prime Minister on John Hewson, Australian politician: “He’s just a shiver looking for a spine to run up.”^[3]
• 1999, Mustafa Tlass, Syrian Minister of Defense, called Yaser Arafat "son of 60,000 whores".^[4]
• 2006, Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela, called George Bush (President of United States) "devil" (see 2006 Chávez speech at the United Nations).^[5]
• 2010, Mohammad-Javad Larijani, Iranian Secretary of the High Council for Human Rights, called Barack Obama, President of the United States, "Kaka Siah", a Persian term akin to "nigger."^[6]
• 2013, John McCain, U.S. Senator, compared Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, to a monkey by tweeting:"So Ahmadinejad wants to be first Iranian in space – wasn't he just there last week? "Iran launches monkey into space"".^{[7] [8]}
• 2013, Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, called Hasan Rouhani, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, "a wolf in sheep's clothing".^[9]
• 2014, Tony Abbott, prime minister of Australia offended Vladimir Putin, president of Russia by saying "shirtfront".^[10]
• 2016, Rodrigo Duterte, president of Philippine used the words "Son of a whore" and "Go to the hell" for Barack Obama, President of the United States.^[11] Duterte has also said some offenses about the European Union, the United Nations, the Pope, and God in his speeches.^[12]
• 2016, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election, have insulted each other in presidential debates.^[13] Trump has a long history of using unflattering monikers and slurs against various political opponents.
• 2019, Paul Keating on Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia: "He's a fossil with a baseball cap".^[14]

Notes and References

1. Debate at Quincy, Illinois, October 13, 1858
2. Web site: Insults . 26 October 2016.
3. Book: The Book of Paul: The Wit and Wisdom of Paul Keating. Marks. Russell. Black Inc.. 2014.
4. Web site: The Son of 60,000 Whores . Slate . 26 October 2016 . Alexander Chancellor. 6 August 1999 .
5. News: Chávez Calls Bush 'the Devil' in U.N. Speech . The New York Times . 20 September 2006 . 26 October 2016. Stout . David .
6. Web site: Questions for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad . The Wall Street Journal. 26 October 2016. 22 September 2010.
7. Web site: John McCain Trashes Iranian President Ahmadinejad's Spaceman Dream With Twitter Joke . Business Insider . 4 February 2013 . 27 October 2016.
8. Web site: McCain's twitt . Twitter . 4 February 2013 . 27 October 2016.
9. Web site: Netanyahu: Iranian president is 'wolf in sheep's clothing' . October 2013 . CNN . 1 November 2016.
10. News: Obama, Duterte and other notorious political insults . BBC News . 6 September 2016 . 26 October 2016.
11. News: Duterte tells Obama 'you can go to hell,' warns of breakup . 4 October 2016 . Associated Press . 26 October 2016 . Jim Gomez.
12. News: After Obama, UN, EU, and Pope, Duterte takes on God . 26 September 2016 . Coconuts Manila . 26 October 2016.
13. Web site: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton trade insults on CNN . The Guardian . 22 March 2016 . 1 November 2016.
14. Web site: Mazengarb. Michael. 2019-05-06. Keating: Morrison "a fossil with a baseball cap". 2020-07-05. RenewEconomy. en-AU.