Pfft ~~~~ European official says election of Trump, Le Pen and Johnson would be a 'horror'
MARKETWATCH 10:35 AM ET 5/26/2016
We've probably all done it: had an idea, put it out on social media and got a reaction that we maybe weren't expecting.
On Thursday it was Martin Selmayr's turn. Selmayr is chief of staff of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and one of the most powerful officials in the European Union's executive arm. He's currently in Shima, Japan, for a summit of the Group of Seven major economies.
And just as Juncker was joining a meeting with the group's leaders -- among them U.S. President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande, U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron and Italian Premier Matteo Renzi -- Selmayr clearly imagined a slightly different seating arrangement for next year.
He put out the following tweet.
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#G7 2017 with Trump, Le Pen, Boris Johnson, Beppe Grillo? A horror scenario that shows well why it is worth fighting populism. #withJuncker
It didn't go down well. On Twitter, where Selmayr has more than 15,000 followers, other users attacked his comments, questioning his -- and Juncker's -- democratic credentials. (Juncker's European People's Party did get the most votes in the 2014 European Parliament elections.)