Update | Obama cancels meeting with Duterte after Philippine leader calls him ‘son of a whore’
In profane rant, Duterte had threatened to curse Obama if US leader raised issue of human rights, extrajudicial killings
US President Barack Obama has cancelled a meeting with new Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, after the populist firebrand called Obama a “son of a whore” and vowed he would not allow the American leader to lecture him on human rights.
National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said Obama would meet instead with President Park Geun-hye of South Korea today.
Obama learned about the insult as he emerged from the Group of 20 summit in Hangzhou, China, on Monday. At a news conference, he said he had told his aides to speak with Philippine officials “to find out is this, in fact, a time where we can have some constructive, productive conversations,” leaving doubt that the meeting would proceed as planned.
“I always want to make sure that if I’m having a meeting, that it’s actually productive and we’re getting something done,” Obama told reporters.
Duterte, who had been scheduled to meet Obama on Tuesday on the Asean summit’s sidelines, has been under intense global scrutiny over the more than 2,000 suspected drug dealers and users killed since he took office. Obama has said he planned to raise the issue in his first meeting with Duterte, but the Philippine leader insisted he was only listening to his own country’s people.
