France's Justice Minister Rachida Dati applauds as she attends a political rally for the upcoming European elections in Paris June 4, 2009. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen (FRANCE POLITICS ELECTIONS)
Glamorous politicians criticized for a love of designer clothes and a weak grasp of policy issues should probably avoid mixing up oral sex and inflationary price rises. Apparently France’s Rachida Dati missed the memo.
The slip of the tongue took place during an interview with France’s Canal Plus television last night. Asked about profiteering by foreign investors during a period of economic uncertainty, Dati, the mayor of Paris’ seventh arrondissement, responded: “I see some of them looking for returns of 20 or 25 percent, at a time when fellatio is almost non-existent.”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwVbndwJRPU]
In French, fellatio is fellation, which sounds similar to inflation, which has the same meaning in French as it does in English.
“I just spoke too quickly but, well, if that lets everybody have a laugh, then that’s fine,” she said in a radio interview this morning.
Dati is used to brushing off controversy. She caused an uproar last year when, as France’s Minister of Justice, she returned to work just five days after giving birth to a baby out of wedlock.