Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte tells Obama to 'go to hell'
On Tuesday, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte once again attacked President Obama, this time telling the president to "go to hell." The remark was Duterte's response to criticism about his country's drug crackdown — which has killed more than 3,000 suspected drug dealers and users since June, when Duterte assumed office.
"Instead of helping us, the first to hit was the State Department. So you can go to hell, Mr. Obama. You can go to hell," Duterte said, arguing that the U.S. should have supported his efforts instead of focusing on the death toll. As for the European Union, which also criticized Duterte's crackdown, he said: "Better choose purgatory, hell is full already."
In another speech later Tuesday, Duterte suggested he would "break up with America," though it was unclear whether he meant he'd cut ties during his six-year term. "I would rather go to Russia and to China," Duterte said, pointing out that both countries have said they could provide his country with weapons — something the U.S. has refused to do.
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Just last month, Obama canceled a meeting with Duterte after the Philippines leader called him a "son of a bitch" over Obama's suggestion they'd discuss human rights. Last week, Duterte compared himself to Adolf Hitler and said he would be "happy to slaughter" the country's "three million drug addicts."
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