…yesterday John McCain was interviewed on the Florida affiliate of Spanish radio network Union Radio. And in the interview McCain appeared not to know who the Prime Minister of Spain was and assumed he was some anti-American leftist leader from South America.
After the interviewer presses him a couple times on the point and tries to focus him on the fact that Prime Minister Zapatero isn't from Mexico and isn't a drug lord either, McCain comes back at her saying, "All I can tell you is that I have a clear record of working with leaders in the Hemisphere that are friends with us and standing up to those who are not. And that's judged on the basis of the importance of our relationship with Latin America and the entire region."
Then there's a moment of awkward pause before she says. "But what about Europe? I'm talking about the President of Spain."
McCain: "What about me, what?
Interviewer: "Are you willing to meet with him if you're elected president?"
McCain: "I am wiling to meet with any leader who is dedicated to the same principles and philosophy that we are for humans rights, democracy and freedom. And I will stand up to those who do not."
At this point, the interviewer gets tongue-tied presumably because she can't get over McCain not knowing what Spain is.
I can excuse not knowing a random foreign leader's name, but the dementia-esque “What about me, what?” thing is a little weird.Update: And yes, it's also bizarre that McCain seems to think Spain is in Latin America.
Update II: Ha - John McSpain. The name McCain really is a pretty versatile for those prone to mockery.
4 comments:
To be fair (and this hurts because I think McCain is a disaster), I listened to the interview and I heard the accented interviewer say "But what about YOU? I'm talking about the President of Spain." Which would explain his lame response, at least partially.
I dislike McCain as much as the next guy, but I think everyone's missing what actually happened here. If you actually listen to the interview, the interview asks "But what abour Europe?" (and not "what about you?"). McCain misunderstood the question and thought she was referencing him, so he said, quite naturally, "What about me, what?" Not knowing where Spain is is the problem here, not McCain's mishearing the question, which apparently most others commenting here didn't even understand.
Everyone should listen to the interview before they comment. The interviewer is very hard to understand - she has an accent and talks very fast. She actually says the words in question ("But what about Europe? I'm talking about [th]e President of Spain.") in 2.7 seconds. That's about 240 words a minute, which is abnormally fast for conversational English. I'm sure the reason everyone thinks she says "YOU-ra" instead of "EUROPE" is because it goes so fast that it sounds like one syllable "You" (and slight pause afterward) instead of two.
The pain from Spain rains mainly on McCain.
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