Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has earned widespread admiration for his response to Russian President Vladmir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Despite plots against his life and heavy shelling of his cities, Zelenskyy has remained in Ukraine, spearheading efforts to secure additional assistance against Russian forces.
But not everyone is singing Zelenskyy's praises. Far-right Representative Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina decried Zelenskyy to a group of supporters earlier this month.
Watch below.
Madison Cawthorn: “Zelenskyy is a thug. Remember that the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt and is incredibly evil and has been pushing woke ideologies.” (First reported by @WRAL) pic.twitter.com/ZxzgYJqngu
— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) March 10, 2022
Cawthorn said:
"Remember that Zelenskyy is a thug. Remember that the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt and is incredibly evil and has been pushing woke ideologies."
While Cawthorn's diatribe against the fledgling democratic nation earned backlash from Americans, Putin-friendly media in Russia can't get enough of it, according to NBC News foreign correspondent Raf Sanchez, who recently returned from three weeks of reporting in Moscow.
In a Thursday Twitter thread, Sanchez described the ways state media is characterizing Putin's war to Russian citizens. Cawthorn's comments describing Zelenskyy as a thug, according to Sanchez, "got played over and over."
Russian state TV also jumped on comments by Republican congressman Madison Cawthorn, who called Zelenskyy “a thug”. That got played over and over. pic.twitter.com/VdC2AG48NQ
— Raf Sanchez (@rafsanchez) March 17, 2022
Sanchez shared part of a segment in which Cawthorn's comments about Zelenskyy, as well as part of his speech from the most recent Republican National Convention, were dubbed in Russian.
Thousands of Russian citizens, risking arrest, have demonstrated their opposition to Putin's war, whether by marching through the streets or—as in the case of Channel One editor Marina Ovsyannikova—hijacking state media segments to tell Russians that their government is lying.
American support for Putin has been used as a tool to counteract that opposition. In addition to playing Cawthorn's comments, Russian state media channels have also propped up far-right Fox News host Tucker Carlson's segments, in which he suggested that American Democrats pose a greater threat than Putin. He also claimed Ukraine wasn't a democracy, but a "client state" for the U.S. Sanchez said these comments from Carlson are also played "several times a day" on Russian state TV. This is just after a leaked Kremlin memo from earlier this month urged state media channels to play Carlson's pro-Putin rants "as much as possible."
Social media users condemned Cawthorn for boosting Putin's propaganda, including the junior Republican Senator from Cawthorn's home state of North Carolina.
If your comments are being replayed over and over by Russian state propaganda outlets...#ncpol https://t.co/esmVCroTOL
— Senator Thom Tillis (@SenThomTillis) March 17, 2022
And of course Rep. Cawthorn calling Zelenskyy a “thug” and Ukraine govt “evil” is being used for propaganda by Russian television.
NBC News says it’s being played “over and over.”
Even in our polarized times, I think we can all agree: That’s not helpful.pic.twitter.com/smd1PVUdQ1
— Sen. Jeff Jackson (@JeffJacksonNC) March 18, 2022
My opponent Madison Cawthorn willingly serves talking points being used by Putin's propaganda machine. These are not WNC values. https://t.co/cC8zJk0vcE
— Jasmine Beach-Ferrara (@JBeachFerrara) March 17, 2022
Madison Cawthorn doing Putin’s work… https://t.co/cH4gE7AntG
— Science Matters 🇺🇦🇺🇸 (@trustscience92) March 17, 2022
Jesus Christ Madison. They are playing your comments on repeat in Russia. Please explain to me how that is America First? @RepCawthorn https://t.co/a7X8ion2Hk
— RonMcKernan (@EricRiffe) March 17, 2022
The bar is so low for the kind of representation we have in WNC, and the stakes for the 2022 midterms couldn’t be any higher.
Let’s make Madison Cawthorn a one-term representative. https://t.co/t1AgrWHU4P
— Katie Dean (@ElectKatieDean) March 18, 2022
Cawthorn's original comments regarding Zelenskyy generated backlash as well.
An incredibly corrupt, lawless, self-serving, and spineless liar is calling a courageous hero corrupt. What a cowering, worthless example of a GOP politician. https://t.co/ozvfle2SVT
— Where we're going (@jlhoov22) March 11, 2022
It’s come to a point where the fringe members of the @GOP just say the opposite of what the United States’ position is. They don’t care if the truth or morality is on their side, as long as they are opposing mainstream America. #MadisonCawthorn https://t.co/6okSdUBiMP
— 🇺🇸Timtam🐇 (@Timtamhare) March 10, 2022
Let's hope these pro-Putin MAGA wingnuts get voted out in the midterms. https://t.co/yQr0Ot2KBP
— MuseKill (@themusekill) March 10, 2022
Russian forces remain stalled in their attempted takeover of Ukraine.
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