French President Nicolas Sarkozy doesn't think much of allegations that he helped fund a political campaign with kickbacks from a Pakistani arms deal. During an off-the-record briefing with journalists, he went nuts, calling them "pedophiles." Unsurprisingly, this didn't stay off-the-record.

The Frenchies are all worked up over Sarkozy's role as budget director to and campaign spokesman for former Prime Minister Edouard Balladur, who's accused of taking kickbacks from a submarine deal with Pakistan to fund his failed 1995 presidential campaign. Sarkozy denies any involvement in arranging the kickbacks, but journalists keep asking him about it. Fucking journalists! The only way to deal with them is to make an inappropriately sarcastic rant — but off-the-record, so no one will ever know...

...Unless these personally offended journalists just write about it anyway:

Then, alluding to testimony by a former defence minister, Charles Millon, who said he had an "absolute conviction" there had indeed been kickbacks, Sarkozy turned to one journalist and fumed about what he called the absurdity of the investigation.

He raged: "And you! I've no evidence against you. But it would seem you're a pedophile. Who told me? I have an absolute conviction. I've seen the intelligence reports but I won't tell you which ones; I've seen someone but I won't tell you who, and it was word of mouth. But I have an absolute conviction you're a pedophile ... Can you explain yourself?"

After a 10-minute diatribe against various journalists, during which he kept returning to the pedophile analogy, he walked off declaring: "See you tomorrow, pedophile friends."

That's one helluva presidential exit. Especially en français: Amis pedophiles, a demain! Why can't Barack Obama do this?

CHUCK TODD NBC: Mr. President, do you have a problem "connecting" with Real Americans/business community/Christian white people because of your Leninism?

PREZ OBAMA: Chuck, uhhhhhhhhhhh, look... I have an absolute conviction you're a pedophile.

CHUCK TODD NBC: True, but you're avoiding the ques—

PREZ OBAMA: Amis pedophiles, a demain! [Quits this shit, disappears to tropical island with "Gibbsy."]

That would actually be uncharacteristically rude, if Barack Obama did that. In France, this is a typical "bad hair day"-level outburst from Sarkozy.

[Image via AP]