NOT COOL

Italian Senator: Black Minister Like an Orangutan

Insulted lawmaker is a woman, too.

At least it’s good to know that American politicians aren’t the only ones in the world who say dumb things—although Italian Sen. Roberto Calderoli’s comments are kind of in a league of their own. Calderoli, the vice president of Italy's Senate, compared the country’s first black minister, Cecile Kyenge, to an orangutan. “I love animals—bears and wolves, as everyone knows—but when I see pictures of Kyenge, I cannot but think of, even if I’m not saying she is one, the features of an orangutan,” Calderoli said at a political rally Saturday. Kyenge is an Italian citizen born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, although Calderoli said her success has encouraged “illegal immigrants” to come to Italy. Calderoli apologized Sunday after a media firestorm.