Zelensky says he doesn't think he did anything wrong after public spat with Trump
Zelensky says he doesn't think he did anything wrong after public spat with Trump
91 comments
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Most Americans that watched it don't think he did anything wrong, either. Even a lot of conservatives think Trump's behavior was disgraceful.
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Nah bud, you good. It's the other jackasses in the meeting that were in the wrong.
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Why is this the question people are asking? It's a classic example of Republicans setting the narrative. I saw on a certain oft-promoted news aggregator that all the Republican news sources use the same words in reaction to the oval office event - "Zelensky refuses to apologize..."
So now that's what the mainstream media talks about, instead of the worrying Trump-Vance-Musk turn towards Russia.
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It was an ambush. The only thing he did wrong was walk into it. Have to give him credit for being willing to take risks to save his country.
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That is who he is..
The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride
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As an American I think he did…. He forgot to slap Trump in the face.
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I understand why he didn't, obviously, but the whole time I watched that happen all I could think was, "PUNCH HIM IN THE FACE"
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I assume he must have gone back to his hotel room afterwards and just screamed in frustration for a solid hour. Or had a workout of with a punching bag with Trump and Vance's faces on them.
I'm truly astounded at the patience he showed during that event. It was infuriating to watch.
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Same.
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We all know liberals would fall all over themselves to try and beat right wingers to the virtue signaling of insisting how bad they think it is.
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damn truest shit ever said
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Well, he did try to play chess with a pigeon. I don't know what he was expecting, but at least he made Trump seem like an asshole and a fool.
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He made Trump seem like an asshole yes. And that's why he's cooked . Trump is not going to support Ukraine going forward because Zelensky made him look bad. You have to appeal to the child to get anything from him.
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Giving into a toddler who is throwing a tantrum, is not how you get what you want from a toddler .
It's how you get more tantrums.
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He cannot get anything from Trump no matter what happens. Trump is beholden to Putin.
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There was no amount of flattery that was going to get Trump to oppose his Russian masters. The best thing Zelenskyy can do is make it clear that Trump is foolish for not backing Ukraine. It wins him points with European leaders who get to choose between backing Zelenskyy or following a fool and it increases the odds of getting a more favorable outlook from the US in 2-4 years as political tides shift (assuming the US continues holding a semblance of fair elections in the next 2-4 years)
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Nah, it's too late for that. Other leaders are starting learn this too. You keep giving in so Trump asks for more, and then more. Nothing will ever be enough for him.
This is no longer about swallowing your pride and appealing to his enormous ego.
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As an American, he did not. I'm sure he felt like he was in bizarro land where he acts perfectly reasonable and everyone around him is fucking crazy. That's how all us non-MAGAts feel, too.
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Yeah, I though Zelensky did a decent job of managing his emotions. Most of us would have popped Trump in the mouth before that had ended. (And WTF was up with that guy asking if Zelensky owned a suit? That should have been an automatic throat punch.) Being an American is embarrassing right now. My apologies to the rest of the world. We're a dumpster fire.
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that dude is marjorie taylor green's husband
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That really does explain a lot. People (and I use that term very loosely here) like that should be launched into orbit and fucking left there to think about what they've done.
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He didn't. He was the only adult there.
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B-b-but he didn't wear a SUIT! The horror.
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100%. I wish I ever could have been as proud of any of our presidents.
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Reminded me of a typical argument between me and my delusional, selfish, narcissistic parents as a teenager. Saying anything at all would make them throw a tantrum.
Trump and Vance did the same type of thing: expected complete fealty after they had voted against Ukraine to join NATO and demanded respect when the previous administration were the ones that did most of the work beforehand. Getting pouty and shouty when he didn’t agree to their shitty “deal.” Brought up meaningless arguments about “respect” and not saying thank you when he had multiple times. Utter madness.
This was about putting on a show for their constituents and they would have done the same if he went in there kissing their asses. But he refused to play the game which made them angrier.
Vance bringing up the conspiracy theory shit about Zelensky putting on a show for visitors as if he was exaggerating is what really set me off. Anyone with two brain cells to rub together saw right through this bullshit song and dance.
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Yeah it was just bizarre... the "stupid president" helped you... so you need to thank me.
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The only person who did something wrong was Trump, supported by his deputy. They did not only verbally attack Ukraine (and, by doing so, Europe), Trump and Vance didn't even pretend to make a case for American interests, given Vance's complaint about Zelensky who thanked U.S. ammunition workers in Pennsylvania when he travelled there, because, in the new U.S. administration's view, this is seen as a support for the Democratic party.
The only positive thing is that the meeting was held in front of TV cameras so the world could witness the self-sabotage of the United States of America. A 'behind the scene' treachery would supposedly be much more harmful to Ukraine. The picture becomes more complete if we look that earlier this week, the U.S. had already voted at the United Nations against Ukraine, siding with Russia and China.
But now, the truth is out: The two men now holding the highest office in the White House are ready to sell the U.S. and its allies to the worst dictators on the globe, as Trump literally admires bad persons as he has been saying over and again. This is a signal the world has finally received. In Ukraine and Europe, but also in Taiwan, and the rest of the Asia-Pacific region, in Africa, in Latin America. It's a tough issue for Ukraine and the democratic world that must now reorganize.
But the toughest long-term challenge is already out for the U.S. Its allies' lost trust won't recover, and the world's dictators will pursue their own goals (maybe even more than ever). The United States are alone in a connected, globalized world. And this means that, with or without Trump at the helm, it'll become increasingly difficult to make America great again.
I am convinced that this is not what the majority of U.S. people want for their country.
[Edit typo.]
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I'm worried America won't be alone for long. Other countries have fascists to deal with too.
If we resist them, we save the world. If we fail, the new world order will be Nazis everywhere.
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They're not alone - they're already on Russia's side.
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He did nothing wrong. Trump and Vance were the ones who threw a tantrum because zelensky didn't immediately agree to their plan.
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And they were pissed he didn't wear a suit 🤣
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He did nothing wrong. Trump and Vance are comprised cowards. I'm sorry Ukraine.
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He stood up to American traitors better than any American ever did.
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There was one. He was 18 or 19. Over the summer.
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I hope America makes a movie about him, with dramatic swelling music with a silouhette of him taking aim in the trailer.
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A White House official told Axios that Zelensky's interview on Fox was insufficient. "He keeps insisting on security guarantees on this economic deal, and we've made clear that won't be part of this," the official said.
Yeah doh! If we give you actually security guarantees how are we going to let Putin invite you again next year?
You can't have everything zelenski! We can, and we want, but you can't.
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Fat Donnie did this to make Zelenskyy look bad (LOL) and shame him into complying on the "art of the steal" by a bully. It was also a way to make a public excuse for not supporting Ukraine and siding with his actual employer, puny putin.
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Imagine if Reagan could have lived long enough to see a republican steal his "make america great again" slogan, turn it into a cult, and then use that cult to be submissive to russia.
Takes a real shitbag to make Reagan look like the better option.
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Yeah - Trump, Vance & their ghouls planned this and there is nothing Zelensky could have done except maybe selling off his country to the russians
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the squishy stinky diaper was offering nothing. not a fucking god damn thing other than future betrayal...
a betrayal you know is coming, one that krasnov's been setting up for years now, and one that will forever tarnish relations between the u.s. and its long-time allies everywhere.
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Narrator: he didn't.
Trump managed to find a way to make me even more embarrassed for our country and angry at his douchebagness.
Zelenskyy has the strength Private Bonespurs will never possess.
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I saw that Pz Zelenskyy also thanked America for hosting him, as if he'd been calmly met by a proper head of state.
It takes a special kind of statesman to be blindsided by two half-wit kids and harangued on TV and then treat it as if it was business as usual.
Remember that Pz Zelenskyy is not your typical politician: he's a comedian who won the seat. How is it that this Everyman is more a leader and a collaborator, and those two are clowns out of the slow car?
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It is because he is an Everyman. People who have lived among the ordinary folk, is much more likely to understand the world as it actually is. Dipshits like Trump and Elon never had to deal with bills or consequences, just the difficult decision of which supermodel to pork on a given day.
Here's hoping that the Free States of America gets a Zelensky.
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I've been watching Hacks, and one thing a good comedian learns is how to read a room and handle a heckler. Zelenskyy knew he couldn't just shut them down because of the power dynamics, but he also knew this wasn't going to play well for Trump with the rest of the room. He didn't back down and yet he didn't take the bait to give them any real excuse to pull US support. They exposed their Russian puppet-strings for the world to see.
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Can I upvote you 1000 times?
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So all the European leaders are saying they stand with Ukraine. However that's nothing but "thoughts and prayers" until they bloody do something. Get some boots on the ground or planes in the air. Do something!
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EU peacekeeps along the Belarus border. Free up Ukrainian units for the front line.
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The European Leaders are just worse at marketing themselves, but they are doing considerably more
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And he's correct.
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He told the truth. Normally that is fine, but not in a room with a despot like Trump. So yea, that's a big whoopsie when you are trying to get US aid from that despot. Zelensky is a great guy, and a terrible politician.
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Flying to Washington instead of Moscow was a mistake.
he’s got a big heart, and an impossible job, but he’s been naive.
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I'm sure you're a Russian troll but if the wartime leader of Ukraine flew to Moscow right now he'd not even make it to the Kremlin before dissappearing. Europe would then condemn Russia for its actions (similar to when the Saudis made that journalist dissappear) and Ukraine would be in a ton of shit.
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Why would you say something silly like that ?
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Washington is Moscow now.
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Technically he's the first one to say something clearly out of protocol (of course Trump and Vance said a lot of irritating things), but countries don't break alliances over such things, and they've had a lot of time to discuss something without cameras, so it's simply a prepared scene.
I just don't know what's this supposed to illustrate. If it's a scene by Trump&Vance to "justify" drying out of military support, then why would Zelensky participate in it. If it's a scene by Zelensky, then what in the world would he gain by it. If it's a mutually agreed scene, then, again, see previous.
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If it’s a scene by Trump&Vance to “justify” drying out of military support, then why would Zelensky participate in it.
Zelensky is interested in public support.
There doesn't even have to be an agenda. It's a press meeting as a conclusion to talks. As elected leaders and/or representatives it makes sense to participate.
If he wouldn't have participated, how would that be better? They could still justify it - in even more of a vacuum to define their own views and spins. It would be worse.
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Trump does the press conference before talks. Remember Justin Trudeau got caught on a hot mic for making fun of him for doing this.
The Agreement Zelenskyy was there to sign was never signed, because this all went down before that could happen.
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I meant being rude too.
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You cannot come up with a reason for Zelenski to play along in this "scripted interview", yet you're convinced it was actually planned? Isn't there a way simpler explanation here, given the two idiots he was sitting next to?
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yet you’re convinced it was actually planned?
The thing before the journalists is not all of their meeting and not the longest part. It's usually intended to officially present results. So yes.
I'm also convinced Zelensky's look in a sweater and sneakers is always planned. You can't maintain that over a few years consistently if it really was a result of some tight schedule of a wartime leader or whatever. Such a person could be forgetting to shave sometimes, but not to the same degree every day, LOL. So those making fun of it are right, it's not that PR weren't important, it's really part of his job, not worse than Trump in any case, but he should put more effort.
You cannot come up with a reason for Zelenski to play along in this “scripted interview”,
It's usually scripted in this particular kind of situation. Why are you putting quotes here as if you were completely ignorant of the process and thinking I wrote something strange, I don't know. Diplomacy is a very ritualized part of reality.
Isn’t there a way simpler explanation here, given the two idiots he was sitting next to?
I gave you the simpler explanation, what I wrote is literally the simpler explanation!
Idiots don't raise to such power. Even Idi Amin and Bokassa and Gaddafi were not idiots.
That's the whole point, all three people in that video are very intelligent, if immoral. It's almost impossible for them to lack self-control enough to have a conflict before cameras.
For an idiot in power see Pashinyan, but I'm not convinced about him either.
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You have to remember that during Trump's first administration, there was a terrible U.S. ambassador who committed a hit-and-run in the UK, killing a cyclist. The victim’s family traveled to the U.S. to seek justice, hoping the president would revoke her diplomatic immunity since she had fled the country.
The moronic president, treating it like a reality TV stunt, had the ambassador unexpectedly pop into a meeting with the grieving family—on live TV—to say sorry. This is just how his broken brain operates.
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Doesn't explain Zelensky playing along (I can't call his behavior anything else).
I think they do have some plan to which Zelensky consented (however reluctantly) and this was a "reality TV stunt" to make it appear plausible. Maybe to save Zelensky's face in Ukraine to have the same partner in negotiations after ceasefire and the new Ukrainian election (has been postponed for almost a year, but that can't go on indefinitely).
Or maybe yes. In any case this was unfitting.
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