Click to play videoNew Delhi: French President Nicolas Sarkozy has landed himself in the middle of another controversy.
Not for dirty politics, but for using dirty language. Sarkozy's heated exchange with a man was caught on camera at the Paris agricultural fair on Saturday.
''Casse-toi alors, pauvre con, va,'' AP quoted him as saying, a phrase whose mildest translation is: “Then get out of here, you total jerk.”
On Saturday while the president was working a crowd to intermittent boos, a freelance cameraman caught on tape an unidentified man telling Sarkozy not to touch him. The man accused Sarkozy of ''dirtying me.''
Sarkozy briskly snapped at the man and then moved on, continued to smile and shake hands with others along his path, saying ''merci.'' AP Television News received a copy of the video from the freelance cameraman.
Le Parisien newspaper posted a video of the incident on its Internet site, and it tallied more than a half-million views by Sunday afternoon.
The president's spokesman, David Martinon, did not respond to a call to his mobile phone, and a lower-level official in the presidential press office declined to comment on the incident.
It is not likely to be welcomed by Sarkozy's fellow conservatives, who are already concerned that his sinking popularity rating could damage their chances in next month's municipal elections.
(With inputs from AP)
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