Former real estate agent and current Trump Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack has walked back a remark in which he labeled journalists in Lebanon “animalistic,” calling his wording inappropriate and saying he should have shown more patience.
In a Thursday interview with social media host Mario Nawfal, Barrack said he did not intend the term to be derogatory but conceded he was wrong to use it. “I didn’t use ‘animalistic’ in a derogatory manner,” he said. “I was saying: can we calm down, be tolerant and kind, and be civilized. It was inappropriate to do when the media was just doing their job.”
The controversy stems from a Tuesday press briefing in Beirut, where Barrack—joined by deputy envoy Morgan Ortagus—addressed US efforts to disarm Hezbollah. As multiple reporters posed questions at once, he interjected: “Please, be quiet for a moment. The moment this starts becoming chaotic, like animalistic, we’re gone.”
Barrack expressed regret over the exchange, adding he should have been “more generous” with his time and “more tolerant.” “If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t have used those words,” he said.
