Palace slams ‘gullible’ Bette Midler for including Duterte among hateful leaders

MANILA, Philippines—Malacañang on Sunday slammed actress Bette Midler for including President Rodrigo Duterte among detestable world leaders,  the likes of U.S. President Donald Trump and Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler.

Midler, an outspoken critic of Trump, posted on her Twitter account her sentiments on the ongoing impeachment hearings on the U.S. president and why it should be a concern for Americans.

For Americans who think the impeachment hearings have nothing to do with them, think again. Want to leave the door open to a Hitler? A Stalin? A Castro? A Duterte? A Pol Pot? A Putin? An Assad? A Chavez? A Kim Jong Un? A Mussolini? A Mugabe? An Amin? #Trump’s the gateway to that.

— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) November 23, 2019

In a statement, Salvador Panelo, Duterte’s spokesman and legal counsel, said that while Midler is entitled to criticize her own government, she, however, has no right to comment on internal affairs of other countries “as she is incompetent and a gullible talking head…on matters concerning foreign leaders she has no personal knowledge of.”

Panelo advised the actress to be circumspect as an influencer and should “refrain from giving one-sided and judgmental comments on internal affairs of another sovereign state”, especially if her references are false narratives coming from the opposition and some biased media outlets.

“We suggest that she revisits her famous song ‘From A Distance’ and learn from its lyrics that she may look at a foreign leader of a distant country with a positive outlook: – ‘From a distance there is harmony and it echoes through the land It’s the voice of hope It’s the voice of peace It’s the voice of every man From a distance we are instruments Marching in common band Playing songs of hope Playing songs of peace They are the songs of every man’,” Panelo said.

Apart from the song “From A Distance,” Midler is also the voice behind the world-famous “Wind Beneath My Wings.”

In 2017, Midler called Duterte a “murderous dictator” on her Twitter page, in reaction to the President serenading Trump at the Asean Summit gala dinner in Manila.

Edited by MUF