Australia’s foreign minister turned the tables on President Donald Trump’s assessment of French first lady Brigitte Macron’s “good physical shape,” asking if the same could be said about him.
Minister Julie Bishop spotlighted Trump’s physical shape during an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Sunday after being asked if she’d have been “flattered or offended” to receive such a remark.
“I’d be taken aback, I think. It’s a rather interesting comment to make,” she told the outlet’s host. “I wonder if she could say the same of him?”
Bishop’s response follows Trump sizing up the first lady’s physical appearance as she and her husband, French President Emmanuel Macron, hosted him and first lady Melania Trump in Paris on Thursday.
Brigitte Macron is 64, while her husband is 39. Melania Trump is 47, while her husband is 71. Bishop turns 61 on Monday.
“You’re in such good shape. Such good physical shape. Beautiful,” Trump proclaimed as Brigitte Macron was seen inching closer to Melania Trump.
The unsolicited assessment drew scowls and scorn around the world, with sports brand Reebok releasing an easy-to-read chart that points out when it’s appropriate to say “You’re in such good shape … beautiful” and when it’s not. (Spoiler alert: Trump’s decision is in the “no” section.)
Just to be fair, Trump’s physical shape was commented on by Pope Francis during the president’s visit to the Vatican with his wife in May. During that exchange, the pope questioned whether the one-time owner of the Miss Universe beauty pageant was eating too many desserts.
Bishop’s comment was just the latest shot taken at Trump on the Australian news station.
Last week, ABC political editor Chris Uhlmann gave a scathing assessment of Trump’s performance at the G-20 Summit, saying he “managed to diminish his nation and to confuse and alienate his allies.”
“We learned that Mr. Trump has pressed fast forward on the decline of the U.S. as a global leader,” he said in his two-minute broadcast.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull also has had a rocky start with Trump, with the president hanging up on him during their first phone call in February after 25 minutes. They had been scheduled to speak for an hour, the Washington Post reported at the time.
“We had a very nice phone call,” Trump said when meeting Turnbull in May. “It got a little bit testy, but that is OK.”
In June, a leaked recording captured Turnbull mocking Trump at an off-the-record media event.