did barack diss dave?

The New Statesman is claiming that following his brief meeting with David Cameron in July, Obama exclaimed, "What a lightweight!"

I'm sceptical. It just doesn't sound very Obama-ish. Whatever he thinks, he doesn't make a habit of deriding individuals in this manner, even fierce opponents (in fact I can't think of a single example right now). The story's author refers vaguely to "diplomatic sources". Even if Obama was going to insult the Tory leader, it would be very out of character for him to do so in front of officials that weren't people he knew and trusted. And as we know, Obama's aides aren't leakers. Well, we'll see. But this may not enhance the already less-than-stellar reputation of British journalists in America.

Comments

[peter]

Not only would it be out-of-character for Barack Obama to do this, it would be out-of-character for an American to do this. Unlike British people, Americans as a general rule do not speak ill of third parties in their absence. The only exceptions in my experience are when the speaker knows the hearer (the second-party) extremely well, and even then, any negative commment about another is often prefaced with one or more positive comments, to ensure balance.