“You are free to kill the idiots.”
– Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, whose violent anti-drug campaign has led to thousands of civilian deaths, giving police their marching orders.
“He’s not my bride, and I’m not his bride or groom.”
– Russian President Vladimir Putin rejects talk of a special relationship with President Trump.
“We are fighting against a European Union that wants to squash us, that wants to eat us all in the same sauce.”
– Far-right French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, who lost France’s presidential election to upstart Emmanuel Macron. #NoSoupForYou
“I didn’t want this job. I didn’t seek this job… My wife told me I’m supposed to do this.”
– U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson found himself at odds with the president throughout 2017, often to the detriment of key diplomatic objectives.
“Everyone already thought Medvedev was pathetic and pointless, but it turns out he’s pathetic, pointless and a billionaire.”
— Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, whose anti-corruption campaign brought out record numbers to protest this year. Navalny has been disqualified from running for president in 2018 against Putin.
“If they ask me what my final wish is, I would say the person who caused all this suffering and oppressed thousands of innocents, I want to spit in his face”
– Exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen — who the Turkish government accuses of masterminding the 2016 failed coup attempt — on the country’s descent into authoritarianism.
“What’s the requirement of my job? I don’t have to be very clever. I don’t have to know that much. I just do have to be calm.”
- British Brexit Secretary David Davis
“If you have been paid to boo me, boo, go ahead… I don’t care, I am powerful.”
- First Lady of Zimbabwe Grace Mugabe. Six days later, the military took over the country, ending her husband’s 37-year reign.