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Duterte drops f-bomb on EU over criticism of Philippines drug war

Not since Vice President Dick Cheney told Senator Patrick Leahy “go fuck yourself” in 2011 has a profane insult from a world leader gotten this much attention.

Responding to criticism of his deadly drug war on Tuesday, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte dropped an f-bomb on the European Union.

“I read the condemnation of the European Union against me,” the president said on Tuesday in his hometown of Davao, according to local media. “I will tell them fuck you,” he responded, wagging his middle finger in the air.

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The EU recently asked Dutere, nicknamed “The Punisher” for his bloody campaign against drug dealers during his tenure as mayor of Davao, to halt the rampant extrajudicial killings of drug suspects that began after he was elected president this year. Since Duterte’s term began in June, more than 3,000 alleged drug offenders have been killed, an average of 44 per day.

The president rattled off a list of Europe’s own crimes against humanity, and dismissed the critique. “The European Union now has the gall to condemn me. I repeat it, fuck you.”

This isn’t the first time Duterte has used colorful language on the global stage.

Earlier this month, he called President Barack Obama a “son of a whore” for attacking his drug war policies. “You must be respectful. Do not just throw away questions and statements. Son of a whore, I will curse you,” he said.

The “son of a whore” line seems to be his favorite. He applied it to the Pope back in April, complaining that the Holy Father’s visit clogged up the streets of Manila in 2015. “We were affected by the traffic … I asked who is coming. They answered, the Pope. I wanted to call him: ‘Pope, son of a whore, go home. Do not visit us again,'” he said.

This summer, he brushed off yet more grievances by disparaging the dead, asking, “Do the lives of 10 of these criminals really matter? If I am the one facing all this grief, would 100 lives of these idiots mean anything to me?”

His vulgarisms and law-and-order reputation have earned him comparisons to Republican nominee Donald Trump, but Dutere is no fan of him, either.

“He is a bigot and I am not,” the president said.

Follow Brendan James on Twitter: @deep_beige