Several prominent European leaders have been caught out by comments they made when they thought their microphones were switched off.
ADVERTISEMENTThis week, French President Emmanuel Macron was caught in a hot mic moment at the G20 summit in Brazil, with his comments about Haiti’s leadership sparking outrage.
On the sidelines of the summit, Macron was captured on video calling members of Haiti’s transitional council « total morons » for sacking the embattled nation’s prime minister.
The remarks have caused a political backlash in the former French colony, and Haiti’s foreign ministry has summoned the French ambassador as a result of what it calls Macron’s « unacceptable comments ».
Macron isn’t the only leader to have been caught making controversial comments when they thought they were off-air. Here are some of the most memorable hot mic gaffes.
1. Sarkozy calls Netanyahu a ‘liar’
In 2011, a supposedly private conversation between then-French leader Nicolas Sarkozy and his US counterpart Barack Obama — in which the pair were complaining about Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu — was overheard by journalists and reported worldwide.
“I can’t stand him anymore, he’s a liar,” Sarkozy was heard saying at the G20 summit in France.
Obama replied: “You may be sick of him, but me, I have to deal with him every day.”
Israeli media broadcast the incident, which caused embarrassment for the three leaders as they worked together to put pressure on Iran over its nuclear programme at the time.
2. Merkel complains to Zuckerberg
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel was caught complaining to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in 2015 about anti-immigration posts on the social media network.
At a United Nations lunch, she was overheard pressing Zuckerberg on Facebook posts about Syrian refugees entering Germany.
Zuckerberg was overheard saying « We need to do some more work » on curtailing the posts, with Merkel asking « Are you working on this? » before the rest of the conversation was cut off.
The conversation came as Merkel’s government chose to shelter thousands of Syrian refugees who had arrived in Europe — a policy that sparked domestic backlash.
3. Berlusconi gushes over Putin
Former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi drew intense criticism after an audio recording of him gushing about his friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin was leaked in 2022.
« I reconnected with President Putin a little, a little much, in the sense that for my birthday, Putin sent me 20 bottles of vodka and a very nice letter. I responded by sending him bottles of Lambrusco and a very nice letter, » Berlusconi was reported as saying.
The political party he founded, Forza Italia, was quick to release a statement saying that Berlusconi’s stance on Ukraine was « in line with that of Europe and the United States » according to local media.
ADVERTISEMENT4. ECB official calls Harris ‘invisible’
Although not a government leader, a top European Central Bank (ECB) official made headlines after a recording emerged of her calling US Vice President Kamala Harris « hopeless » and « invisible » at a panel event in early 2024.
“They should have built up another candidate to Kamala Harris from the beginning,” Isabel Schnabel said. “She would never win an election. »
Her remarks were unearthed when Harris became the presumptive presidential nominee for the Democratic Party after US President Joe Biden withdrew from the race.
The ECB was quick to do damage control, saying in a statement that the comments were « misleading » and insisting that Schnabel does not comment « in public on political events. »
ADVERTISEMENT5. Macron laughs with Trudeau and Johnson about Trump
In 2019, Macron was caught in another hot mic moment when a video was filmed showing him, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and then-UK PM Boris Johnson sharing a laugh about Donald Trump at the opening of a NATO summit in London.
In the footage, Johnson asks Macron: « Is that why you were late? » before Trudeau replies: « He was late because he takes a 40-minute press conference off the top ».
The comments were widely understood to be about then-US President Trump, who is known for his lengthy press conferences.
Trump was reportedly so furious about the comments that he cut short his attendance at the summit, and later called Trudeau « two-faced » when asked about the remarks.
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