John Kerry is going to France today to give “a big hug to Paris,” a week after the brutal terrorist attacks there.
His plan is “to share a big hug with Paris and express the affection of the American people for France and for our friends there who have been through a terrible time,” he told reporters today in Bulgaria.
But, the Associated Press reports, he has no plans to apologize for skipping the weekend rally that many world leaders joined to respond to the attacks:
He said he had no plans to apologize or try to explain the lack of a high-profile U.S. presence at Sunday’s march, which the White House has acknowledged was a mistake. Some 40 world leaders and more than a million people took part in the march to show solidarity with France after the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper and a kosher supermarket.
“I don’t feel any other exigencies, other than continuation of our friendship and our responsibilities as good friends and the longest ally in our history, and that’s why I am going,” Kerry said.
“I don’t feel any other exigencies, other than continuation of our friendship and our responsibilities as good friends and the longest ally in our history, and that’s why I am going,” Kerry said.
