They're slowly giving up on criticizing Silvio



He just ignores his critics anyway. They are now calling his "incorrect" comments "apparent" gaffes.

"Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has reportedly told a female doctor working in the country's earthquake zone: "I wouldn't mind being resuscitated by you". But the comment was defended by the aid worker, Dr Fabiola Carrieri, who said Mr Berlusconi was simply being "gallant" and trying to take the "drama" out of the situation.

It's the latest apparent gaffe by Mr Berlusconi, who last week suggested the tens of thousands left homeless by the Abruzzo earthquake should imagine they were on a camping trip.

Mr Berlusconi met Dr Carrieri, an intensive care specialist from Milan, during another visit to the tent sites. According to The Times, Dr Carrieri responded to Mr Berlusconi's comments by saying she hoped she would never have to resuscitate him. Dr Carrieri said that Mr Berlusconi had shown similar gallantry with another female patient whose husband was sitting at her bedside, saying he hoped she got better soon "so I can ask you to dance with me". "[He was] trying to raise a smile in the middle of all the sorrow we have all around us," she said.

Despite the off-key attempts at humour, Mr Berlusconi has won praise for his handling of Italy's deadliest earthquake in three decades, most notably his enduring presence in the tent camps.

Source

Update:

I should have mentioned something that people who speak English only might have missed. The doctor had a label on saying in large letters rianimatore. That means "resuscitator" (literally "reanimator") and what Silvio said would have been his spontaneous response to seeing that.