Pineapple pizzagate forces Iceland president to back off ban

Pizzagate erupted in Iceland after the country's president said he would ban pineapple pizza, if he could. Now he's been forced to clarify those remarks.

Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Pizzagate erupted in Iceland after the country's president said he would ban pineapple pizza, if he could. Now he's been forced to clarify those remarks.

Hawaiian pizza is not for everyone. It’s a decadent, tasty treat to some, but for others ham and pineapple are the worst topping choices ever created.

Iceland’s president waded into the fray last week when a student asked him a question about pineapple on pizza. (Ham wasn’t mentioned, by the way.)

 Guðni Th. Jóhannesson said he found the combination "completely disgusting," USA Today reported, and would ban it if he could.

By Tuesday Jóhannesson was forced to back down from his remarks on banning it after a social media storm, dubbed pizzagate, erupted.

“I like pineapples, just not on pizza,” he posted on Facebook. “I do not have the power to make laws that forbid people to put pineapples on pizza.”

“Presidents should not have unlimited power. I would not want to hold this position if I could pass laws forbidding what I don’t like. I would not want to live in such a country,” he said.

Instead, Jóhannesson, made his own recommendation for the best topping.

“For pizza, I recommend seafood,” he wrote on Facebook.

Jóhannesson is Iceland’s youngest president ever at 48. He was sworn into took office last August.