The President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, is embroiled in controversy after comments about a compatriot’s cleavage during a visit to Canada. His words, “The daughter still has the flu. Have you seen the cleavage she’s wearing?”were caught by television cameras and quickly went viral.
The Portuguese President, 74 years old, defended herself against the criticism that arose after this episode and emphasized that her comments were not sexist. In a response to the press he stated: “It wasn’t a sexist comment. It hadn’t occurred to me. Neither for the young woman nor for the old ladies. It wasn’t sexist at all.”. In addition, he explained that at the end of his walk through the Portuguese district of Montreal, where he was staying, It started to rain and was cold, so he warned several women. including the young woman to whom he made the comments about the danger of catching a cold.
However, Criticism of Rebelo de Sousa’s words came from various political parties in Portugal, including the ruling Socialist Party (PS), as well as from other sectors of society. PS national secretary Isabel Moreira called on the president to apologize and explained: “It’s 2023. You don’t treat a woman you don’t know by making a joke about her weight. You don’t joke about cleavage (…). Sexism is killing us. That’s it.” Not funny.”
It is not the first time that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has been involved in controversies of this kind. Recently it caused controversy Comment on a woman’s weight and previously he positioned himself with the kiss of the president of the Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, towards the football player Jennifer Hermoso, comparing it to the war in Ukraine.
