During the one-minute segment that aired on April 16 this month, Vladimir Solovyov tore into Giorgia Meloni, calling her a “certified idiot” and “fascist scum.”Olga Maltseva/AFP via Getty Images

Russian TV host brands Meloni ‘fascist scum,’ sparking diplomatic fracas – POLITICO

by · POLITICO

Italy summoned Russia’s ambassador to Rome on Tuesday to protest a Kremlin-aligned pundit’s profanity-laced tirade against Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

In a post on X, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he had called Russian envoy Aleksey Paramonov to formally denounce the “extremely serious and offensive statements” recently made by presenter Vladimir Solovyov on Russian state television.

During the one-minute segment that aired on April 16 this month, Solovyov tore into Meloni, calling her a “certified idiot” and “fascist scum.” After accusing her of betraying both her voters and U.S. President Donald Trump — who last week turned on Meloni after she criticized his attack on Pope Leo XIV — the presenter additionally referred to her as “PuttaMeloni,” or “Meloni the whore.”