Palace calls Bette Midler ‘incompetent, gullible’ over tweet vs Duterte, other foreign leaders

November 24, 2019

Malacanang on Sunday said American actress and singer Bette Midler has no right to criticize President Rodrigo Duterte, calling her an “incompetent and a gullible talking head.”

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo made the statement after Midler included the name of President Rodrigo Duterte on her list of dictators in a tweet she posted last November 23.

“We understand that actress Bette Midler, based on her numerous tweets, is an outspoken critic of her government. She has the right to criticise in her country as an exercise of her freedom of expression,” Panelo said.

“She however has no right as she is incompetent and a gullible talking head as well, on matters concerning foreign leaders she has no personal knowledge of,” he added.

The presidential spokesperson said as an influencer, Midler should be circumspect 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 political opposition and some biased media outlets whose agenda is to besmirch President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and his administration before the global stage."

Quoting the actress' own song, Panelo said she may look at a foreign leader of a distant country with a positive outlook.

“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,” he said.

Midler was tweeting about the impeachment hearing against US President Donald Trump when she mentioned Duterte’s name.

“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,” she said. Ella Dionisio/DMS