United States diplomat Tom Barrack has expressed regret for calling Lebanese journalists “animalistic”, days after his comments stirred outrage across the Middle East.However, in a Thursday interview with social media personality Mario Nawfal, Barrack repeated his call for Lebanese reporters to be “civilised”.He nevertheless conceded he should have been more “tolerant” in his remarks to the reporters who shouted questions after he met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun earlier this week.“‘Animalistic’ was a word that I didn’t use in a derogatory manner. I’m just saying: Can we calm down? Can we find some tolerance and kindness? Let’s be civilised,” said Barrack, who serves as ambassador to Turkiye and special envoy for Syria and Lebanon.“But it was inappropriate to do when the media is just doing their job.”Barrack, who is of Lebanese descent, used the podcast appearance to address the remarks he made on Tuesday, after he emerged from his meeting with Aoun at the presidential palace near Beirut.As he met reporters in the briefing room, he was met with a barrage of questions that left him visibly irritated.“Please be quiet for a moment,” Barrack said.“And I want to tell you something: The moment this starts becoming chaotic — like, animalistic — we’re gone. So, you want to know what’s happening? Act civilised, act kind, act tolerant, because this is the problem with what is happening …
