Italy's Silvio Berlusconi, on the comeback trail, hates being compared to Trump
You may see similarities between President Trump and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi — both elderly billionaires have suspiciously tanned skin, surgically enhanced hair, reputations for active libidos, high esteem for Russia's Vladimir Putin, a penchant for mixing their business and politics, anti-immigrant politics, and a preternatural ability to drive their critics crazy. But don't tell that to Berlusconi.
The former Italian leader is making his political comeback, The New York Times reports, though his long string of business and sex scandals led Parliament to bar him from holding office until 2019, he was convicted of tax fraud in 2013, and he still faces trial for alledgedly bribing witnesses to keep silent about his sex-fueled Bunga Bunga parties. In March 4 elections, Berlusconi, 81, is expected to emerge as kingmaker, the Times' Jason Horowitz reports:
Berlusconi, who appears almost nightly on the TV stations he owns, "has been deeply reluctant to discuss" Trump, Horowitz writes, but "one person who spoke privately with the Berlusconi family" about Trump said "Berlusconi had a low opinion of the American president and disliked being compared to him." "Surely Berlusconi doesn't love it," close ally Giovanni Toti tells the Times. "It's a mistake to compare Trump to one of the most experienced statesmen in Europe." Read more about Berlusconi's improbable comeback at The New York Times.
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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