US envoy Tom Barrack apologizes for calling Lebanese reporters ‘animalistic’

A US diplomat apologizes for using the word “animalistic” while calling for a gaggle of reporters to quiet down during a press conference in Lebanon earlier this week.

Tom Barrack, who is the US ambassador to Turkey and envoy to Syria and has also been on a temporary assignment in Lebanon, says he didn’t intend to use the word “in a derogatory manner” but that his comments had been “inappropriate.”

Barrack visited Beirut along with a delegation of US officials on Tuesday to discuss efforts by the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah and implementation of the ceasefire agreement that ended the war between Israel and Hezbollah in November.

At the start of a press conference at the presidential palace, journalists shouted at Barrack to move to the podium after he started speaking from another spot in the room. After taking the podium, Barrack told the crowd of journalists to “act civilized, act kind, act tolerant.” He threatened to end the conference early otherwise: “The moment that this starts becoming chaotic, like animalistic, we’re gone.”

The comment sparked an outcry, with the Lebanese press syndicate calling for an apology and calling for a boycott of Barrack’s visits if none was issued. The Presidential Palace also issued a statement expressing regret for the comments made by “one of our guests” and thanking journalists for their “hard work.”

In an interview with Mario Nawfal, a media personality on the X platform, an excerpt of which was published Thursday, Barrack says: “Animalistic was a word that I didn’t use in a derogatory manner, I was just saying ‘can we calm down, can we find some tolerance and kindness, let’s be civilized.’ But it was inappropriate to do when the media was just doing their job.”

He adds, “I should have been more generous with my time and more tolerant myself.”