Iceland's President clears up his call for a pineapple pizza ban
Gudni Thorlacius Johannesson averts international incident over what toppings should be allowed
Iceland's President Gudni Thorlacius Johannesson has clarified his outspoken opinions on pizza toppings following a public outcry.
Last week, when answering questions from pupils at a high school in Akureyri, the politician revealed his favourite football team was Manchester United and that he was "fundamentally opposed" to pineapple on pizzas, reports the Washington Post.
While few quibbled with his choice of football team, there was uproar from pineapple lovers across the globe – especially as Johannesson went even further and said he would actually like to ban the combination.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Presumably cheesed off by the response - and keen to hold on to his 97 per cent approval ratings - Johannesson took to Facebook to reveal he does, in fact, like pineapples, but "just not on pizza".
He added: "I do not have the power to make laws which forbid people to put pineapples on their pizza. I am glad that I do not hold such power.
"Presidents should not have unlimited power. I would not want to hold this position if I could pass laws forbidding that which I don't like. I would not want to live in such a country."
However, far from settling the matter, Johannesson caused further consternation by capping off his Facebook statement by appearing to recommend seafood as a pizza topping instead.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
His proclamation that "presidents should not have unlimited power" was also taken as a dig at Donald Trump.
Johannesson has enjoyed huge popularity since his election last June, buoyed by his decision to refuse a 20 per cent pay rise, donate ten per cent of his pre-tax salary to charity and marched in a Gay Pride parade, says The Guardian.
-
Metal-based compounds may be the future of antibioticsUnder the radar Robots can help develop them
-
Europe’s apples are peppered with toxic pesticidesUnder the Radar Campaign groups say existing EU regulations don’t account for risk of ‘cocktail effect’
-
Political cartoons for February 1Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include Tom Homan's offer, the Fox News filter, and more
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Ukraine, US and Russia: do rare trilateral talks mean peace is possible?Rush to meet signals potential agreement but scepticism of Russian motives remain
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Trump backs off Greenland threats, declares ‘deal’Speed Read Trump and NATO have ‘formed the framework for a future deal,’ the president claimed
-
Iran in flames: will the regime be toppled?In Depth The moral case for removing the ayatollahs is clear, but what a post-regime Iran would look like is anything but
-
Europe moves troops to Greenland as Trump fixatesSpeed Read Foreign ministers of Greenland and Denmark met at the White House yesterday
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult