Overview
- During La7’s DiMartedì on Tuesday, journalist Massimo Giannini compared a long-lasting but inactive government to a person spending twenty years immobile in a wheelchair, calling such longevity useless.
- Minister for Disabilities Alessandra Locatelli denounced the remark as a shame and said it trampled the dignity of disabled and elderly people.
- The disability-rights federation FISH expressed profound indignation, calling the words degrading and noting the studio’s loud applause as proof that ableist ideas still pass as acceptable.
- Giannini later clarified that he did not mean to devalue anyone’s life and said he was sorry if anyone felt offended, while defending the political point he intended to make.
- Reactions broadened as the party Fratelli d’Italia demanded an apology and former deputy Gianfranco Paglia, who uses a wheelchair, said his life is not useless, with il Giornale also stressing the sensitivity of the comment so soon after Alex Zanardi’s death and no formal sanctions reported.