Belgium summons U.S. ambassador over insulting post about health minister

Filed 1h ago · Via NV · The Buffoon Desk

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Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0

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Belgium's Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot has summoned U.S. Ambassador Bill White after White posted an AI-generated image mocking Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke on Instagram, captioned asking who is the 'biggest loser in Belgium' and claiming he 'destroys all joy in life.' The post came amid a Belgian dispute over stricter alcohol-advertising warnings, which brewers have campaigned against.

Prévot called it unacceptable for an ambassador accredited to Belgium to speak this way about a government member and said he would summon White. This is reportedly not the first time White has been called in over public remarks described as courting right-wing populist sentiment.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

An ambassador's job is traditionally to avoid starting international incidents over ad copy about beer labels, not to manufacture them with AI image generators. If this is the second summons, the State Department might consider whether its Belgium posting doubles as a meme account.

Source: Read the original at NV → Scored: Frogs Legs Rag · Kevin MacLeod · CC BY 4.0

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