VICKSBURG, Damoign--Collester is playing damage control today after President Brenton Menuhaeo made insulting comments about US President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, while unknowingly on a live microphone.
Menuhaeo was in Vicksburg for a speech to a group of veterans. Before the event started, he was sitting on stage with David McWilder, head of the Grassadellian Veterans' Association (GVA).
The two men believed they were talking privately, but unbeknownst to them, a microphone near them was turned on, and their conversation was heard by some members of the audience, including several journalists who were sitting near a speaker, and who recorded part of the conversation.
According to an audio recording, McWilder and Menuhaeo are heard discussing American politics.
"What do you think will happen over in America?" McWilder asks the president. "Do you think Obama's done?"
Menuhaeo responds, "I don't know what's going to happen, but [it] doesn't matter. Obama doesn't know what the hell he's doing. He's in over his head. He doesn't deserve to be re-elected."
"All he has is his rock-star image," McWilder is heard saying.
And about Obama's Republican challenger, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, Menuhaeo had even less polite things to say.
"I don't know how in the hell the Republicans could have chose Mitt Romney to be their candidate. He is the biggest pile of horse shit to come out of the that country. I'd say he's almost as bad as Bush. If he gets elected the middle east will erupt."
"Agreed. He's just a bag of wind," McWilder says.
Around that point in the conversation, an aide to the president rushed over to the two men and alerted them to the live microphone. They abruptly ended their conversation, and the president went on to give a 20-minute speech about veterans' care and benefits.
But the inflammatory remarks were publicized almost immediately. The story was first broke by the political website Toxic Roaches. The story was then picked up by other political sites and finally, mainstream media outlets like the Mavocke Capitol and GBC News.
And almost immediately, Collester was forced to respond.
"President Menuhaeo was heard having a private conversation with Mr. McWilder, and in the course of that conversation, he made some unfortunate remarks about Barack Obama and Mitt Romney," Collester Press Secretary Michael Heines told an anxious press corps.
Heines told the media that Menuhaeo had already contacted both Obama and Romney via phone and apologized.
"The president's unfortunate words do not accurately represent his true feelings of admiration and respect for Barack Obama," Heines said. "While President Menuhaeo does not know Mr. Romney as well as Mr. Obama, he does have respect for other world leaders and political figures, and he has acknowledged that his words were inappropriate and nonconstructive."
Senate Majority Leader Jay Burns (C-Deschire) said at a press conference he was "appalled" by Menuhaeo's comments, and added that the president's remarks made him "embarrassed to be a Grassadellian."
"Nothing brings more dishonor and alienation to our country than the president of Grassadellia being heard saying disrespectful things about foreign leaders. I want our American friends to know that Brenton Menuhaeo does not speak for Grassadellians. We admire our friends and respect them for their leadership on the world stage," Burns said.
A spokesman for McWilder said the director of the GVA "sincerely regretted" his remarks, and had also phoned Washington to apologize.
The US Embassy in Mavocke declined to comment on the matter.
Menuhaeo was in Vicksburg for a speech to a group of veterans. Before the event started, he was sitting on stage with David McWilder, head of the Grassadellian Veterans' Association (GVA).
The two men believed they were talking privately, but unbeknownst to them, a microphone near them was turned on, and their conversation was heard by some members of the audience, including several journalists who were sitting near a speaker, and who recorded part of the conversation.
According to an audio recording, McWilder and Menuhaeo are heard discussing American politics.
"What do you think will happen over in America?" McWilder asks the president. "Do you think Obama's done?"
Menuhaeo responds, "I don't know what's going to happen, but [it] doesn't matter. Obama doesn't know what the hell he's doing. He's in over his head. He doesn't deserve to be re-elected."
"All he has is his rock-star image," McWilder is heard saying.
And about Obama's Republican challenger, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, Menuhaeo had even less polite things to say.
"I don't know how in the hell the Republicans could have chose Mitt Romney to be their candidate. He is the biggest pile of horse shit to come out of the that country. I'd say he's almost as bad as Bush. If he gets elected the middle east will erupt."
"Agreed. He's just a bag of wind," McWilder says.
Around that point in the conversation, an aide to the president rushed over to the two men and alerted them to the live microphone. They abruptly ended their conversation, and the president went on to give a 20-minute speech about veterans' care and benefits.
But the inflammatory remarks were publicized almost immediately. The story was first broke by the political website Toxic Roaches. The story was then picked up by other political sites and finally, mainstream media outlets like the Mavocke Capitol and GBC News.
And almost immediately, Collester was forced to respond.
"President Menuhaeo was heard having a private conversation with Mr. McWilder, and in the course of that conversation, he made some unfortunate remarks about Barack Obama and Mitt Romney," Collester Press Secretary Michael Heines told an anxious press corps.
Heines told the media that Menuhaeo had already contacted both Obama and Romney via phone and apologized.
"The president's unfortunate words do not accurately represent his true feelings of admiration and respect for Barack Obama," Heines said. "While President Menuhaeo does not know Mr. Romney as well as Mr. Obama, he does have respect for other world leaders and political figures, and he has acknowledged that his words were inappropriate and nonconstructive."
Senate Majority Leader Jay Burns (C-Deschire) said at a press conference he was "appalled" by Menuhaeo's comments, and added that the president's remarks made him "embarrassed to be a Grassadellian."
"Nothing brings more dishonor and alienation to our country than the president of Grassadellia being heard saying disrespectful things about foreign leaders. I want our American friends to know that Brenton Menuhaeo does not speak for Grassadellians. We admire our friends and respect them for their leadership on the world stage," Burns said.
A spokesman for McWilder said the director of the GVA "sincerely regretted" his remarks, and had also phoned Washington to apologize.
The US Embassy in Mavocke declined to comment on the matter.
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