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Giorgia Meloni has condemned the boss of Italy’s biggest trade union after he referred to the prime minister as the “courtesan” of Donald Trump.
Maurizio Landini, the leader of CGIL, which organised several pro-Palestinian protests before the Gaza ceasefire deal, made the remarks on TV on Tuesday, the day after world leaders, including Meloni, met in Egypt for a Middle East peace summit.
Landini accused Meloni of “not having lifted a finger” to bring peace in Gaza, limiting her role to “playing Trump’s courtesan”. “Fortunately, the Italian citizens took to the street to defend the dignity and honour of this country,” he said.
In a post on social media on Thursday, Meloni said Landini was “evidently clouded by a mounting resentment (which I can understand)”, before sharing a definition of “courtesan”.
“I think everyone knows the most common meaning attributed to this word, but, for the benefit of those who might not, I’m publishing the first definition found through a quick internet search,” Meloni said, posting a screenshot that read: “Woman of easy virtue, heterosexual; euphemism, prostitute.”
Meloni also criticised her leftwing opponents, saying that for decades they had “lectured us on respect for women” only to then criticise a woman by “calling her a prostitute”.
In response to the post, Landini argued there were “no sexist insults” towards Meloni and that he had used the term to imply “Trump’s lackey”.
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In a statement, he said: “In a 10-minute interview, which anyone can easily rewatch, to avoid any misunderstanding or exploitation of the term used, I immediately clarified what I meant – that Meloni was on the coat tails of Trump, she was at Trump’s court, she was Trump’s lackey.”
Meloni has long sought to nurture friendly relations with the US president. During a speech in Egypt, Trump turned to Meloni – the only woman at the event – and called her “beautiful”. “In the United States, it would be the end of your political career,” he said. “But I’ll take the risk. Do you mind if I say you’re beautiful? Because you truly are beautiful.”
The US president later praised her as “an inspiration to all” in reference to the English version of her book, I Am Giorgia: My Roots, My Principles, which has a foreword by his son Donald Trump Jr.
In August, Meloni also hit back after discovering that doctored photos of her and other prominent Italian women had been posted on a pornographic website, saying she was “disgusted” and expressing “solidarity and support to all the women who have been offended, insulted and violated”.
