Top 7 most unusual objects thrown at politicians

Top 7 most unusual objects thrown at politicians

 

The top 7 most unusual objects thrown at politicians includes even stranger things than a pink dildo.

Steven Joyce got slapped in the face with a pink dildo, and Gerry Brownlee got faceplanted with some chocolate ice-cream.

But it turns out a dildo projectile and ice-cream missiles aren't even the strangest items to be hurled at politicians. Joycey and Gerry join an ever-growing list of world leaders and decision makers who’ve been slapped in the face with everything from shoes, pies, eggs – even a parochial tourist token.

1. Tomato

The Democrats’ most favourite loathsome character, Donald Trump, ordinarily the target of ridicule, was the target of an overripe tomato while on the Iowa trail recently. Andrew Joseph Alemao, 28, was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct for a tomato-throwing incident. But Alemao won’t win any shooting prizes. Sadly for the projectile-thrower, none hit Mr. Trump.

Donald Trump. /Getty

In 2009, tomatoes were hurled at Sarah Palin. Bad aim and Palin’s own good luck saw the perp miss and hit police officers instead.

Vine-grown tomatoes. / Getty

2. Mud

Only at Waitangi. Dr. Don Brash caught the wet slap of mud at Te Tii Waitangi marae in 2004, after he was showered in the face with sodden earth thrown by protesters. “Not a bad shot," he quipped as the sediment was wiped off his face.

Dr Don Brash. /Getty

Ten years later, Brash’s mate John Banks got a bucket of mud hurled at him as he walked into court to face a charge of filing a false electoral return. The dirty start saw Banksy later dry-clean his designer threads and give them away to a homeless man who lived near his Albert St penthouse apartment.

3. Shoe

Political protestors have been known to use their voice and their feet, or rather shoes. President George Bush saw the end of a pair during a press conference at the Prime Minister's Palace in Baghdad in 2008. Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi threw his left shoe, shouting in Arabic: "This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog!" The right shoe was hurled with the words: "This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq!". Neither shoe found their target.

George Bush ducks. / Getty

Australian PM John Howard got the shoe, too. In November 2009, an Australian student attacked Howard via loafer as he was delivering a speech about leadership Cambridge University, and called him a racist. Alas, said moccasin projectile did not hit its target.

 

Brogue.  /Getty

Hillary Clinton also dodged footwear thrown at her during a speech in Las Vegas – actually a gawdy black and orange athletic shoe.

4. Egg

In 1988, Richard Prebble, then Minister of State Owned Enterprises, got egged on his way to a Christchurch meeting. How did he respond? He brushed the broken yolk and shell through his locks. Now that’s a combover!

Richard Prebble loses an egg fight. /YouTube

In 2010, Tony Blair was pelted with shoes and an egg at a book signing in Dublin. He was there to promote his memoirs. But anti-war protestors ironically descended into violence with Gardai.

Ed Miliband was branded Egg Miliband when a flying shell whisked past his face and smacked onto his suit. The Labour leader laughed it off while removing his yolk-stained jacket.

Ed Miliband. was brand Egg Miliband. /YouTube

5. Souvenir cathedral

In 2009, Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi copped a souvenir cathedral in his face. Yes, a toy tourist memento of Milan’s Duomo gothic cathedral. He had his nose broken and two teeth knocked out when the statuette slapped him straight in the face. Berlusconi spent the night in hospital but appeared in good spirits the next day.

A replica of the trinket. /Getty

6. Novel

Ok, so technically not a protest, but an odd projectile nonetheless. Barack Obama had a paperback book thrown at him during a rally in Philadelphia in October 2010 – but the thrower didn’t mean any harm and wasn’t protesting about anything. Apparently it was the book’s author and he wanted the president to read it.

 

Barack Obama and a tome missile. /YouTube 

7. Pie

Bill Gates has copped one. Rupert Mudoch too. Swedish social affairs minister Goran Hagglund had a pie thrown in his face while campaigning for parliamentary election.

In 1997, Nicholas Sarkozy, the mayor of Paris suburb Neuilly-sur-Seine, faced the crust when notorious Belgian pie-thrower Noel Godin smacked him in the face with a pie. He was quite annoyed by the whole incident.