Icelandic Prime Minister Gudni Johannesson has apologised for threatening to ban pineapple on pizza, in an interview broadcast on Canadian TV.
In February 2017, Johannesson said during a Q&A session with Icelandic school students that he would like to ban pineapple on pizza if he could. He later clarified that he both did not have the legal jurisdiction to ban a pizza topping and liked pineapple (just not on pizza).
P-I-Z-Z-A
The news sparked an international outcry, especially in Canada, the birthplace of Hawaiian pizza, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau placing himself firmly in camp #TeamPineapple.
I have a pineapple. I have a pizza. And I stand behind this delicious Southwestern Ontario creation. #TeamPineapple @Canada
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) February 24, 2017
(As an aside: just like the Mexican fajita isn’t Mexican and the Brazilian wax isn’t Brazilian, the Hawaiian pizza isn’t Hawaiian. Sorry.)
Now, in an interview with Canadian TV show As It Happens, Johannesson has admitted that he may have gone too far with his comments.
That’s where the influence of this office sort of, yeah, got the better of me… I went a step too far.
Look, I know politics is hard, and sometimes you can’t keep your promises. But my God, to back away from this? To the one sensible policy ever produced by any politician, anywhere, in our lifetimes?
Gudni, you should be ashamed.
Shame! *ring* Shame! *ring* Shame!
My faith in politics is gone, I say. Gone.