Russian politician Alexei Pushkov shocked America by mocking the Washington Navy Yard tragedy before a death toll had even been tallied.
Alexei Pushkov took to Twitter Monday morning and used Barack Obama’s words from a speech on the Syria crisis to ridicule Americans in the wake of the tragedy in Washington D.C.
“A new shootout at Navy headquarters in Washington – a lone gunman and 7 corpses. Nobody’s even surprised anymore,” Alexei Pushkov tweeted two hours after shots first rang out.
“A clear confirmation of American exceptionalism.”
As the New York Post points out, Alexei Pushkov, a member of the Russian parliament’s foreign affairs committee was likely referencing a comment made by the president last week.
“That’s what makes us exceptional,” Barack Obama said.
“With humility, but with resolve, let us never lose sight of that essential truth.”
Barack Obama was urging Americans to support a strike on Syria as a means of halting its human rights violations.
But the Russian politician used the words to mock Americans
“The USA should part with the notion of American exceptionalism,” Alexei Pushkov tweeted about an hour later.
“It contradicts the principles of equal rights and smells of political racism.”
This is not Alexei Pushkov’s first swipe at America, nor is it his first foray onto the international stage, though his timing and methods leave him more wide open for criticism than ever before.
Alexei Pushkov, who is seen as especially close with the Kremlin, was among the most vocal in Russia during NSA leaker Edward Snowden’s prolonged stay at a Moscow airport.
Edward Snowden was eventually granted asylum in Russia, but not before Alexei Pushkov got in his jabs – at Snowden and America.
Alexei Pushkov at one point became annoyed with Edward Snowden’s prolonged citizenship limbo.
He joked that if Edward Snowden does not find shelter in Venezuela, “he will have to stay and marry Anna Chapman”, the redheaded Russian spy who was among 10 sleeper agents deported from the United States in 2010.
At another point in the saga, reports mistakenly suggested Edward Snowden has left Russia and the U.S. demanded to know his whereabouts.
“Why should the United States expect restraint and understanding from Russia,” Alexei Pushkov mocked at the time.
On Monday, Alexei Pushkov again showed no restraint when he used the occasion of a deadly shooting to make a political point.
The death count at the Washington Navy Yard continued to rise after the Parliamentarian’s comments. As of Monday afternoon, the death count was 12.
