Several members of Congress who participated in a Saturday video meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were criticized by those who said their decision to post pictures of the call to social media endangered Zelensky.
“#TAKEITDOWN” trended on Twitter after two Republicans, Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Steve Daines of Montana, posted pictures of Zelensky speaking during their Saturday morning Zoom meeting. Other congressional participants said the Ukrainian president asked that no one post anything to social media during the call to ensure his security, a matter of particular concern given several failed attempts on his life.
ZELENSKY BEGS US FOR BEGS US FOR FIGHTER JETS AND A RUSSIAN OIL EMBARGO
“Appalling and reckless ignorance by two US Senators,” Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota tweeted.
The Ukrainian Ambassador very intentionally asked each of us on the zoom to NOT share anything on social media during the meeting to protect the security of President Zelenskyy. Appalling and reckless ignorance by two US Senators. https://t.co/geolhKxbLp
— Rep. Dean Phillips ?? (@RepDeanPhillips) March 5, 2022
Rubio’s tweet was ratioed, or subjected to several times more comments than likes or retweets, with nearly 17,000 comments compared to just over 7,000 likes. Daines’s post received a similar treatment, with around 3,500 comments and 300 likes as of Saturday afternoon.
A representative for Rubio dismissed the security concerns, telling the Washington Examiner, saying there was “no identifying information of any kind” contained in the image.
“There were over 160 members of Congress on a widely reported Zoom call. There was no identifying information of any kind. Anybody pretending this tweet is a security concern is a partisan seeking clicks,” the spokesman said.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The office of the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request to clarify the rules of the meeting.
Zelensky asked Congress for more weapons and to end America’s purchases of Russian oil during the hourlong meeting attended by about 300 lawmakers. A top target for invading forces, he reportedly survived three assassination attempts last week.
