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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Trump’s envoy tells Lebanese journalists not to be ‘animalistic,’
ties behavior to Middle East’s ‘problem’
By Mostafa Salem and Charbel Mallo, CNN
Updated:
7:48 AM EDT, Thu August 28, 2025
Source: CNN
United States Special Envoy Tom Barrack sparked outrage after telling
Lebanese journalists to act “civilized,” not “animalistic,”
during a news conference in the Lebanese capital Beirut on Tuesday.
Barrack, joined by deputy envoy Morgan Ortagus, was in the Lebanese
capital as part of US efforts to disarm the Iran-backed Hezbollah
group. During the briefing, he scolded the journalists for calling out
questions simultaneously – a common practice in news conferences –
linking their behavior to what he described as a broader “problem”
in the Middle East.
“Please, be quiet for a moment. And I wanna tell you something. The
moment this starts becoming chaotic, like animalistic, we’re gone.
So, you want to know what’s happening? Act civilized, act kind, act
tolerant, because this is the problem with what’s happening in the
region,” he told the reporters.
Lebanon faces a delicate dilemma. It relies on crucial US support while
accommodating Hezbollah, the most powerful armed group in the country,
even as it comes under frequent Israeli military attacks.
“Do you think this is fun for us? Do you think this is economically
beneficial for Morgan (Ortagus) and I to be here putting up with this
insanity?” he told the journalists.
Barrack, who is of Lebanese descent, is the special envoy to Syria and
also serves as the US Ambassador to Turkey.
The envoy’s comments angered Lebanese journalists on social media,
who described the statements as “racist.”
“Tom Barrack struts into Beirut like a 19th-century colonial
commissioner, calls Lebanese journalists ‘animalistic,’ lectures us
on ‘civilization,’ & blames it all on our ‘region.’ That’s
not just arrogance, it’s racism. You don’t run this country, & you
don’t get to insult its people,” Lebanese-British journalist Hala
Jaber said on X.
Another journalist, Ali Hashem, called the comments “humiliating.”
“The level of arrogance US officials demonstrate in Lebanon is
humiliating for the country.”
‘It was inappropriate’
Barrack told influencer Mario Nawfal on Wednesday that he didn’t use
the term “animalistic” in a “derogatory manner.”
“I was just saying can we calm down, can we find some tolerance, some
kindness, let’s be civilized… but it was inappropriate to do when
the media was just doing their job,” he said in an interview posted
on Nawfal’s X account.
“It’s very rare that they have an opportunity to talk to people who
actually are making the decisions, so they have the illusion that
that’s me. I should have been a bit more generous with my time and
more tolerant myself,” Barrack said.
The US State Department said the situation had been mischaracterized.
“Amb. Barrack is an excellent representative for the President in the
region and is simultaneously spearheading a number of high level and
critical issues on behalf of this Administration and the American
people,” Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott told CNN in a statement.
Without naming Barrack, the Lebanese presidency said it “regrets the
statements made from its platform” by “one of its guests today.”
He is leading a US delegation to Lebanon, including Republican Senator
Lindsey Graham, Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Congressman Joe
Wilson, and Ortagus.
Barrack cancelled a planned visit to the southern Lebanese town of
Khiam and city of Tyre amid protests Wednesday, according to Lebanese
state media.
Barrack arrived at the Francois Al-Hajj Army Barracks in the town of
Marjayoun aboard a helicopter while the Lebanese Army deployed a large
presence in the area to secure the visit and accompany his tour of the
region, national news agency NNA reported earlier in the day.
Residents of nearby Khiam protested the visit, condemning what they
described as the “biased policies” of the United States, the news
agency reported.
Protesters also gathered in front of the government headquarters in the
southern coastal city of Tyre denouncing US policies in the region and
rejecting Barrack’s visit.
Demonstrators carried signs reading “Israel is absolute evil” and
“America is the Great Satan,” according to NNA.
The US has offered Lebanon support if its government disarms Hezbollah.
The militant group was weakened significantly after months of an
Israeli campaign that was launched after Hezbollah attacked
Israeli-held territory in support of Hamas in October 2023.
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