Landini attacks Giorgia Meloni: "Trump's courtesan"

It is a head-on clash between the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the general secretary of the CGIL Maurizio Landini, after the words pronounced by the latter during the broadcast on TuesdayThe union leader had defined the premier “Trump's courtesan”, an expression that has sparked political controversy and accusations of sexism from the majority.

Landini, asked to clarify the meaning of the term, specified that he wanted to say “to be Trump's court, to be Trump's bagman”, but the rectification was not enough to stop the storm.

Meloni's response on social media: "A splendid left-wing slide: they lecture us about women, and then, to criticize a woman, they call her a prostitute." 

From the Presidency of the Council, Giorgia Meloni reacted harshly by publishing a post on X: “The general secretary of the CGIL, Maurizio Landini, evidently clouded by mounting resentment (which I understand), called me a “courtesan” on television,” the prime minister stated, continuing: “I think everyone knows the most common meaning attributed to this word, but, for the benefit of those who don’t know, I’m publishing the first definition found with a quick internet search.” The prime minister then published the definition of the word courtesan, which reads: “A woman of easy virtue, a hetaera; euphemism., prostitute”Meloni then concluded by commenting: “And here's another splendid slide from the left: the one that for decades has lectured us about respecting women, but then, in order to criticize a woman, for lack of arguments, calls her a prostitute.”
The controversy erupted while Meloni was busy at Palazzo Chigi finalizing the budget package. Expressions of solidarity and requests for a formal apology from the CGIL leader immediately arrived from the center-right.

Landini: "A political judgment, not a sexist insult."

The CGIL secretary, in a statement released after the broadcast, reiterated that he had not intended to offend the prime minister.
“There is no sexist insult, but a political judgment”, he explained, clarifying that he wanted to criticize the government's international positioning and not Giorgia Meloni as a person.

The apology, however, did not arrive, and this further fueled reactions from the political world, including that of the opposition. Even in the reformist area of ​​the PThe Democratic Party has expressed more than a little discontent over the "unfortunate" choice of language.

The context: from the stage of on Tuesday at the fuse of the controversy

During the episode of on Tuesday, the day after the signing of the Sharm el-Sheikh peace accords for Gaza, the host Giovanni Floris had repeated some of the Prime Minister's previous statements against the general strike called by the CGIL. Meloni had observed that "Nothing changes in Palestine, and on the other hand, in Italy, Italians have a lot of problems, especially the workers, whom the union should defend.".

Landini, answering live, replied that "Italians took to the streets to defend Italy's honor, unlike Meloni who limited herself to playing Trump's courtesan.". At that point Floris immediately called him out on the tone of the sentence, underlining its sexist connotation, and Landini attempted to correct him: “I meant to say being at Trump’s court.”

Political reactions: "Vulgar and sexist language"

The vice-premier Antonio Tajani he defined those of Landini “vulgar and sexist words, which demonstrate the inability of certain men to initiate a real cultural change”.
For the Minister of Defense Guido Crosetto, "Landini confuses freedom of expression with freedom to insult.".

“Tavern words”, commented the undersecretary Wanda Ferro, while the leader of Action Carlo Calenda invited the CGIL secretary to "Change your tune and focus on concrete issues like Stellantis, Ilva, or utility bills, because the left won't beat the right with insults.".

Schlein remains silent, but the left is divided

Questioned by journalists at the end of a conference in the Senate dedicated to "Women, Rights, and Male Violence," the Democratic Party Secretary Elly Schlein he avoided commenting on the matter. A choice that has left room for divergent interpretations even within the centre-left, divided between those who ask Landini to apologize and those who defend the union's freedom to criticize.

The affair quickly turned into a political and cultural issue. On the one hand, the government denounced a form of sexism disguised as opposition; on the other hand, the leader of the CGIL claims the right to express a political opinion.