Overseas Media Jeer the U.S. as Florida Recount Stumbles Along

An Italian newspaper offered its take Thursday on the winner of the unresolved U.S. presidential race 16 days after the elections: “The Turkey Won,” declared the Rome-based Communist daily Il Manifesto, featuring a large photo of a traditional Thanksgiving meal.

Mirth and exasperation concerning the protracted U.S. presidential recount led newspaper accounts of the race worldwide on Thursday.

Several Italian papers showed Florida election officials counting votes alone, in tandem or using magnifying glasses, emphasizing the tedious, low-tech approach to the recount.

“An American Nightmare, a Government of Judges,” Turin’s La Stampa said.

“America in Limbo,” Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald read.

“The world is sneering at American democracy,” Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun said. “The damage done to the image of the United States to the outside world is immeasurable.”