Ankara's mayor calls Marie Harf a 'dumb blonde'; U.S. Ambassador goes blonde in response

Brett T. | 7:55 PM on May 01, 2015

“We are all blondes” is not the rallying cry we might have been expecting in these turbulent times, but it was U.S. Ambassador to Turkey John Bass’ rejoinder to Melih Gokcek, mayor of Ankara, after he insulted acting State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf by calling her a “dumb blonde” in a tweet.

Mayor of Ankara, Turkey, calls U.S. official a "dumb blonde." http://t.co/Vn5gGGDzA8 pic.twitter.com/rqNEjiF3xw

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) May 1, 2015

Gokcek, CNN reports, was blasting Harf for the Obama Administration’s criticism of Turkey’s police force in light of the riots in Baltimore.

https://twitter.com/Zangoti/status/594272068750938112

Bass responded by going blonde on his Instagram account.

"We are all blondes." Amb. to Turkey John Bass defends @StateDept's @MarieHarf against Ankara mayor's sexist insult. https://t.co/G5qS1J5h77

— Strobe Talbott (@strobetalbott) May 1, 2015

Amb John Bass responds to @06melihgokcek terrible comments directed @marieharf http://t.co/E4MMficLqX Well played! #Turkey

— Steven A. Cook (@stevenacook) May 1, 2015

In fact, Gokcek’s boorish insult of Harf as a dumb blonde inspired a massive social media backlash from citizens across the United States. OK, not really.