Even Trump seemed to defend Obama after the president of the Philippines insulted him

Duterte's comments may have provided the only (sort of) moment of unity between Trump and Obama this election season.
 By 
Colin Daileda
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Even Donald Trump -- the champion of birther rumors who may disparage President Barack Obama as much as Hillary Clinton -- seemed insulted after Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte recently called Obama a "son of a whore."

Obama had been set to meet Duterte for the first time, but the White House canceled the bilateral meeting following the insult.

Duterte's comments may have provided the only (sort of) moment of unity between Trump and Obama this election season.


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So there's that, at least.

Duterte was speaking with the press about how he would respond should Obama talk about human rights abuses in Duterte's "war on drugs," which has resulted in an estimated 2,400 deaths in the two months since he took the presidential reins.

The United States and others have raised concerns over the extrajudicial killings taking place in the Philippines since Duterte took office.

Duterte declared a "state of lawlessness" after a recent attack at a market left 14 dead, and further responded by allowing military personnel to enforce police state protocols, including checkpoints and curfews.

In addition to the wave of violence, the nation has few drug rehabilitation centers capable of dealing with an influx of drug users hoping to get treatment since Duterte took office.

Calling people "putang ina," (also translated as "son of a b*tch") is becoming one of Duterte's best-known insults. Recently, he used it against the Pope.

He apologized to the Pope, and has issued an apology to Obama as well.

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Colin Daileda

Colin is Mashable's US & World Reporter. He previously interned at Foreign Policy magazine and The American Prospect. Colin is a graduate from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. When he's not at Mashable, you can most likely find him eating or playing some kind of sport.

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