London: Clint Eastwood has landed himself in hot soup for launching a bizarre rambling rant about Barack Obama live on stage.
The 82-year-old actor’s strange monologue was directed at an invisible Obama as he lambasted an empty chair at the Republicans National Convention.
It prompted the White House to retaliate on Twitter by posting a photo of Obama in his Presidential chair, with the caption “This seat’s taken”.
Eastwood’s awkward and long-winded routine at the convention in Tampa, Florida, even inspired the Twitter tag #eastwooding.
His speech was the warm-up act for Republican candidate Mitt Romney – but he overran, causing the Mormon tycoon to hastily cut and rewrite his much anticipated address.
During his speech, Eastwood rebuked the chair for its broken promises and for invading Afghanistan — even though it was his Republican predecessor George W Bush who ordered US troops into the country.
“So Mr President, how do you handle promises you’ve made when you were running for election, and how do you handle them?” the Sun quoted him as saying.
“I think Mr Romney asked the only sensible question, you know, he says, ‘Why are you giving the date out now? Why don``t you just bring them home tomorrow morning?.
“When somebody doesn``t do the job, you gotta let them go,” he said.
In his distinctive gravel-voiced tone, the ‘Million Dollar baby’ star also mentioned Oprah Winfrey, the Guantanamo prison and the Iraq War, miming a response to the chair with the puzzling refrain.
“I can’t do that to myself,” he said.
In a further moment of awkwardness, he suggested lawyers should not become presidents.
He concluded the strange speech with perhaps his most famous catch line, saying “Go ahead”, to which the crowd boomed “Make my day.”
Following Eastwood’s spiel, Romney addressed the Republican faithful vowing to create jobs, champion business and beat Obama.
ANI
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.