Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati was exposed to an embarrassing situation while receiving Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at Beirut International Airport, yesterday evening, Wednesday.
A video clip that was widely circulated showed Mikati receiving and kissing one of the women in the Italian delegation as she got off the plane, believing that she was Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and he walked with her on the red carpet.
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Seconds later, one of the assistants alerted Mikati that this woman was not his Italian counterpart. The Lebanese caretaker prime minister quickly returned and stood at the bottom of the plane’s stairs again, waiting for the “real” Meloni, who came out to be warmly received by Mikati again.
Video: An embarrassing situation for Mikati.. He kissed a woman thinking she was the Prime Minister of Italy!#Daily_Beirut pic.twitter.com/I6ZlChkqbc
— Daily Beirut (@DailyBeirut) March 28, 2024
Later, Mikati and Meloni held talks at the Grand Serail government palace in Beirut at the beginning of the latter’s visit to inspect the Italian battalion operating within the peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL), and then hosted a dinner for the guests.
Embarrassing situations for leaders and celebrities
This is not the first embarrassing situation that politicians have fallen into. Just a few days ago, a video clip showed US Vice President Kamala Harris clapping unconsciously and smiling while singing a song in Spanish during her visit to the island of Puerto Rico, before she suddenly stopped clapping after the song’s lyrics were translated to her.
Kamala Harris claps along to a protest song in Puerto Rico — but stops after an aide tells her what it means: “We want to know, Kamala, what did you come here for? … Long live Free Palestine and Haiti too!” pic.twitter.com/ruXTB2Y5tP
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 24, 2024
One of the demonstrators sang in Spanish in Harris’ presence, saying, “We want to know, Kamala, why did you come here? We want to know. The vice president is here making history. We want to know her opinion about the colony… a free Palestine and Haiti too.” Harris nodded and unintentionally clapped. Before one of the assistants told her what the words meant, she suddenly stopped applauding.
As for French President Emmanuel Macron, he, in turn, was exposed to an embarrassing situation during his visit to China in April 2023, when he made a grave protocol error while receiving him in Beijing.
Video clips showed that Macron put his right hand in his pocket at the moment of taking souvenir photos with Chinese President Xi, before he corrected himself and took his hand out of his pocket with an embarrassed smile.
In August 2022, the Governor of the Canadian province of Ontario, Doug Ford (57 years old), was exposed to an embarrassing situation when he was answering reporters’ questions at a press conference about health care in the province, when the bee flew directly into his mouth.
On November 10, 2022, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, was exposed to a funny situation at the COP 27 climate conference, when he began reading from the wrong speech, before he laughed and corrected the situation and proceeded to deliver the correct speech.
Guterres began his speech by saying, “The world is losing the race in confronting the climate crisis, but I am optimistic about your presence. You do not hesitate to hold decision-makers accountable,” before he stopped in confusion and browsed through the papers in front of him, then said with a laugh, “I think they gave me the wrong letter.” Those present in the hall applauded while Bring his correct speech.
UN’s Guterres at COP27: “The world is losing the race against the climate crisis, but I’m hopeful because of you.” (checks notes)
“I think that I was given the wrong speech” pic.twitter.com/AAOQ2zkqpD
— Bloomberg Originals (@bbgoriginals) November 10, 2022
In February 2019, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was exposed to an embarrassing situation during his speech at the Arab-European Summit, as his mobile phone rang and it was his wife who was calling him, and he was forced to hang up the phone, saying, “I do not know who invented this invention because it is bad.”
In the face of his wife’s insistence, Claude excused himself from the audience, saying, “I will stop here because the phone does not stop,” and he answered the phone to inform his wife that he was busy. Then he told the audience, “The usual suspect was… my wife,” making the audience laugh loudly.
In October 2013, the Jordanian Minister of Labor and Tourism at the time, Nidal Al-Qatamin, made a mistake when he started talking about information technology before the audience alerted him that the conference was addressing gender equality.
One of the most recent embarrassing situations that celebrities were exposed to was that of the American singer Madonna on March 10, 2024, during her concert at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, where she asked one of her fans at the concert to stand up before she realized that he was in a wheelchair.
Madonna questions fan for sitting down during her show then finds out they’re on a wheelchair:
“Oh okay, politically incorrect, sorry about that. I’m glad you’re here.” pic.twitter.com/oezHxfjrFn
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) March 9, 2024
Madonna said to the young man sitting there, “What are you doing sitting there? Why are you sitting?” Madonna repeated the question before she discovered that the young admirer was sitting in a wheelchair. As soon as she knew that, she apologized to him, saying before resuming her concert: “I am happy that you are here.” .
Source: Al Jazeera + websites + social networking sites
