Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Monday apologized for posting what he called a “stupid tweet” where he likened a public figure like United States President Donald Trump to medical frontliners “who expose themselves to protect others.”
(PCOO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
“I am sorry for that stupid tweet this morning. Also, I have no business commenting on other countries’ domestic affairs anymore than others have in commenting about mine. My deepest apologies to frontliners everywhere,” Locsin said in a tweet that has since been deleted.
Locsin was earlier commenting on a post by John Aravosis, editor of @AmericaBlog, who criticized the COVID-positive Trump for driving by outside the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland where he is undergoing treatment to wave at his supporters.
“You can say the same of frontliners – nurses, doctors, especially immigrants -- who expose themselves (in many cases are not given enough protection) to protect others,” the DFA chief said in a comment to Aravosis’ post.
This specific tweet from the country’s top diplomat immediately drew a sharp response from another American netizen and New York-based book author Kurt Eichenwald who described Locsin’s tweet as “easily the stupidest argument I have seen so far.”
“Frontliners…who are fully wrapped in protective equipment – do it to save lives. Trump did it without masks, putting US national security at risk, to listen to cheers and talk about walking on ramps,” the American author said in a tweet.
In response, an apologetic Locsin admitted that it was “stupid to liken frontliners to a public figure.”