ROME – A leading Italian senator has been chastised by Premier Enrico Letta for likening the country's first black Cabinet minister to an orangutan, the latest high-profile racist episode in a nation grappling with immigration.
Letta in a statement Sunday denounced Roberto Calderoli's words as "inacceptable" and "beyond every limit." Calderoli, the Senate's vice-president and a leader of the anti-immigrant Northern League party, later said he was making a joke and meant no offense to Cecile Kyenge, a Congolese-born doctor who is the country's immigration minister.
The Northern League isn't in the government but has been the closest ally of former Premier Silvio Berlusconi's center-right party, which is Letta's main partner in the coalition government.
Italian media quoted Kyenge as saying she had nothing to say to Calderoli.
Antisemitism Exposed
Fox News' Antisemitism Exposed" newsletter brings you stories on the rising anti-Jewish prejudice across the U.S. and the world."
By entering your email and clicking the Subscribe button, you agree to the Fox News Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and agree to receive content and promotional communications from Fox News. You understand that you can opt-out at any time.