Every day we wake up and don’t know how the political climate will twist upside down. Who will say what outlandish statement and launch a thousand debates across media platforms? This time the political nuclear bomb comes courtesy of Iceland’s President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson. He declared that if he had executive power to create laws on his own, he’d ban pineapple on pizza.
Just typing that sentence I can feel the disruptive wave rippling across the world.
This week Guðni was in the North Iceland town of Akureyri, visiting a history class to lecture on this history of their school and country. A former history professor, Guðni took questions from the class near the end, ranging from numerous topics.
Guðni answered questions about various personal things, including which team he rooted for in the English premiere league (which turned out to be Manchester United). He was then asked about his opinion about pineapples as a pizza topping. Guðni answered that he was fundamentally opposed to putting pineapple on top of a pizza.
Then he went one step further, announcing that he would pass a ban on pineapple as a pizza topping if he had the power to pass laws on his own.
When news of his sordid opinion went viral, Guðni backtracked a bit. As is the presidential norm these days, he released a statement via social media to better explain his views.
“For pizzas, I recommend seafood.” Your mans would rather order anchovies on his pizza than pineapple. However, the Icelandic news press seems to be taking this story in stride, as a goofy bit of viral news than anything serious. He has a sky-high approval rating, with only 3.8% of the population viewing him negatively. In other words, just like our past and current President in America.