Bush Clanger

US president adds to his staggering string of verbal gaffs

14th June 2002

He's dropped some real goofies in his short time as US president, but George W Bush came up with the worst so far whilst visiting Brazil in May. In conversation with Fernando Henrique Cardoso, the 71 year old president of Brazil, Bush blurted: "Do you have blacks here too?".

An embarrassing silence was punctuated by Condolezza Rice, the black US National Security Advisor, who hastily chimed in to the rescue by telling Bush that Brazil had a higher black population than any country outside Africa. Spared the necessity of having to give Bush's dumb question an answer, Cardoso later described the US president as "still in training".

The incident, which happened in full view of the press, was not reported in either the US or British press. The only media to write up the story was the German news magazine, Der Spiegal.