Outrage as Putin’s right-hand man shockingly mocks Barack Obama as MONKEY on nationwide TV
Top Russian spin doctor mired in controversy after blurting out racist TV remark
VLADIMIR Putin's "propagandist-in-chief" used racist and demeaning words on nationwide TV in Russia while attacking Barack Obama.
Dmitry Kiselyov then deleted the offending word "jungle" because, he said, he didn't want to "compare Obama to a monkey".
The offensive remark came as the TV pundit and media boss told Russian viewers about the first meeting between President Obama and president-elect Donald Trump at the White House.
Kiselyov said: "Obama is cheeky these days, if not unceremonious.
"It started last week, when Trump paid his first visit to the White House.... There, Trump behaved like an English lord, while Obama was throwing his arms about as if he was in the jungle."
This is how his words appeared on Sunday's broadcast of flagship news show, Vesti Nedeli, on state-run Rossiya TV channel.
But then the tape was edited and a new version appeared.
"Trump behaved like an English lord, while Obama sat with his legs wide open, in a pose that is prohibited even in the New York metro, because it is considered a demonstration of male domination.
"But that was not enough: [Obama was ] throwing his arms about, as if he was [painting a picture] in the open air."
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He evidently ignored that Putin, too, often deploys such a pose.
Kiselyov was asked by The Moscow Times why he had changed the words, and said: "Since the show is broadcast live, I can edit my text, make it better, shorter or longer.
"After the first live broadcast, where the jungle was mentioned, my colleagues asked me whether I want(ed to) compare Obama to a monkey - they said [the jungle comment] prompted such an association."
Kiselyov, 62, seen as one of Putin's most powerful media advocates, claimed he had not intended to make this comparison.
"It was important for me to show his tactlessness and disrespect towards Trump, rather that anything else," he said.
The comment comes as Russia's state-run media has portrayed Trump favourably with his predecessor with whom he and Putin have cool relations.
Kiselyov - who is on the EU sanctions list for being a "central figure" of Kremlin propaganda over Crimea and the Ukrainian crisis - is head of Rossiya Segodnya state news agency and a deputy director of Rossiya TV's parent company.
He is known for strong anti-Western comments.
In one televised outburst, he claimed: "Banning gays from distributing propaganda to children is not enough. I think they should be banned from donating blood or sperm, and if they die in a car crash, their hearts should be burnt or buried in the ground as unsuitable for the continuation of life".
He is on record as saying: "I'm not a homophobe. Lots of my friends are gay. It is simply global practice, as followed in the United States, the European Union, Japan, and Arab countries. Practically everywhere except Russia."
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