John Kerry decides the best way to apologize to France is to have James Taylor perform http://t.co/oYUKaZpmdp pic.twitter.com/hovVvqEO1d
— Huffington Post (@HuffingtonPost) January 16, 2015
The United States government prominently failed to send either President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, or any other senior-ranking official to the French Solidarity Rally last Sunday, attending by over 1 million people and numerous prominent world leaders.
This Friday, however, Secretary of State John Kerry laid it on thick by having legendary singer-songwriter James Taylor perform “You’ve Got A Friend” at a Paris press conference.
The next day, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that this was a mistake, and that someone with a higher profile should have been sent.
Bloomberg reported that Taylor is a longtime friend of Kerry’s and was “in Paris promoting his European concert tour later this year.”
Politico added that “Kerry said that this visit was meant ‘to share a big hug with Paris’ — and, apparently, a song.”
Shortly afterwards, BBC mocked the performance slamming the Obama administration saying James Taylor’s outreach to France is “no better definition of soft power.”
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