Friday summons is second for Ambassador Bill White in six months
Belgium’s foreign ministry summoned U.S. Ambassador Bill White on Friday over an Instagram story featuring an AI-generated image of Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke on a cigar box. The image depicted Vandenbroucke on the box, with the label reading “Damages every form of joy in life.” White captioned the post, “Who’s the biggest loser in Belgium?”
The post appeared to mock Vandenbroucke’s efforts to change how alcohol companies display health warnings on products. Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot said in a statement to Politico that “it is unacceptable that an ambassador uses such insulting language against a member of government.”
The Friday summons is the second time Belgian authorities have formally called in White over comments targeting Vandenbroucke. In February, Belgian officials summoned the ambassador after he accused Belgium of antisemitism in connection with an investigation of three mohels — practitioners of ritual Jewish circumcision — for performing circumcisions without a doctor present. White called the investigation “ridiculous” and demanded that Brussels drop it. He also said Vandenbroucke was “very rude” and asked for his intervention in the case, telling him: “You must make a legal provision to allow Jewish religious MOHELS to perform their duties here in Belgium.”
On Friday, Conner Rousseau, who leads the political party Vooruit and whose party includes Vandenbroucke, criticized the ambassador in a post on Instagram. “Bill can be a funny guy,” Rousseau said. “But he knows nothing about healthcare. He only repeats what daddy Trump says. They only care about money, not our health.”