Philippine President Regrets Profanity While Talking About Obama

The White House canceled a meeting after the remarks

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte expressed regret Tuesday over his "son of a b****" remark while referring to President Barack Obama, in a rare display of contrition by a politician whose wide arc of profanities has unabashedly targeted world figures including the pope and the U.N. chief. 

In a statement read out by his spokesman, Duterte said that while his "strong comments" in response to questions by a reporter "elicited concern and distress, we also regret it came across as a personal attack on the U.S. president." 

Duterte had made the intemperate remarks Monday before flying to Laos, where he is attending a regional summit. He had been scheduled to meet Obama separately in Laos, but Obama indicated he had second thoughts, and the White House announced that the meeting had been canceled. 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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