Shock moment ‘sexist’ Portuguese president points out woman’s cleavage in front of her mum & jokes ‘she’ll catch a cold’
THIS is the shocking moment the “sexist” Portuguese president pointed at a woman’s cleavage in front of her mum before telling her “she’ll catch a cold”.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, 74, made the grim comment during an official visit to Canada on Friday.
On his walk around Toronto, the president was greeted by a mum and daughter of Portuguese origin.
The pair held up their phones as they filmed Sousa, laughing and smiling while speaking to him in Portuguese.
But things quickly take a turn when the old leader raises his hand and points towards the young girl in front of the crowd of people.
“The daughter is more beautiful than the mother,” Sousa said.
“But the daughter might catch the flu, yet. Have you seen her cleavage?” he added, before walking away and smiling to himself.
He wraps his arm around a woman’s shoulder as he laughs at his comment before the shocking footage ends.
Sousa’s words have been heavily criticised by other politicians outside his party.
“He should apologise. Sexism is killing us. It’s not a joke,” said Isabel Moreira, a Socialist Party MP.
“This is 2023. You can’t just walk up to a woman you don’t know and make a ‘joke’ about her weight or about her cleavage,” Moreira added.
She was making a reference to another situation that unfolded just last week when Sousa offered a woman a chair, only to moments later ask: “Do you think it will hold?”
But the president denied any wrongdoing when confronted by reporters.
“It wasn’t a sexist comment. I didn’t think of it like that and neither did the young woman or the old ladies. It wasn’t sexist at all,” he said.
Many have hit back at Sousa however, calling his comments “regrettable” and of “poor taste”.
“In fact, the president talks too much and doesn’t say what he should,” Manuela Silva, Director of the Democratic Women’s Movement, told local media.
She added that his remarks were made in a “lighthearted manner that undermines the dignity of women.”
“There’s a set of rights that have been won by women that are not being fulfilled, and this is what should concern the President, not poor taste jokes… I think he comes across very poorly,” she continued.
Sousa was visiting Toronto to have talks with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about resolving the situation of the “tens of thousands” of Portuguese people who work in Canada but remain in illegal conditions.
“They are working hard in Canada, and I think there is a great openness from the Canadian Government to solve the problem”, Sousa told reporters.
It comes after Formula One’s governing body leaped to the defence of President Mohammed Ben Sulayem after sexist comments on his own website resurfaced earlier this year.
Sulayem was quoted as saying “women who think they are smarter than men, for they are not in truth” in a post on a personal website that appeared to have been published in 2001.
And in 2018, Atletico Madrid’s president sparked controversy over “sexist” comments he made to a female journalist.
A female reporter from Cuatro News asked: “Some say that Atleti has no money to renew, that [Antoine] Griezmann took everything. What does he say?”
He said: “I do not talk about money because it is bad manners and less with a woman.”
Women's Aid
Women's Aid has this advice for victims and their families:
- Always keep your phone nearby.
- Get in touch with charities for help, including the Women’s Aid live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
- If you are in danger, call 999.
- Familiarise yourself with the Silent Solution, reporting abuse without speaking down the phone, instead dialing “55”.
- Always keep some money on you, including change for a pay phone or bus fare.
- If you suspect your partner is about to attack you, try to go to a lower-risk area of the house – for example, where there is a way out and access to a telephone.
- Avoid the kitchen and garage, where there are likely to be knives or other weapons. Avoid rooms where you might become trapped, such as the bathroom, or where you might be shut into a cupboard or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – messageinfo@supportline.org.uk.
Women’s Aid provides a live chat service – available weekdays from 8am-6pm and weekends 10am-6pm.
You can also call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.