A U.S. diplomat altered his hair on Instagram in solidarity after State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf was taunted as a “dumb blonde” by a Turkish politician.
John Bass, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, posted a picture of himself with his hair apparently photoshopped to a shade of yellow with the comment “We’re all blonde.”
It was an apparent riposte to the mayor of Turkey’s capital, Ankara, who addressed Harf on Twitter as “blonde girl” and goaded her about the U.S. response to recent riots in Baltimore.
Melih Gokcek, a prominent member of Turkey's governing Justice and Development Party, targeted the spokeswoman over Washington’s previous criticism of the way Turkish police dealt with public protests, most notably during brutal crackdowns in Istanbul’s Gezi Park in 2013.
He also tweeted a headline from a pro-government newspaper that pictured Harf alongside the question: “Where are you, dumb blonde, who said Turkish police used disproportionate force?” Gokcek added the comment, in English: “Come on blonde, answer now…”
Harf declined to comment when asked about the tweets at a media briefing, saying: “I really don’t think I’m going to dignify them with a response.”