Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenky is “engaged in theater” while slamming President Joe Biden’s visit to Ukraine.
Cruz said on his podcast this week that Biden’s entire trip was a stunt, complete with what he claimed were fake air raid sirens. Biden on Monday made a surprise visit to the war-torn country where he spoke with Zelensky and delivered a speech in a show of Western solidarity against Russia.
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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) accuses Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of being “engaged in theater” with his appearance:
“It’s a little jarring seeing all of these images of him in a sweatshirt and fatigues next to Biden … It is a costume.” pic.twitter.com/Iii5uQkLQH
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“The video should have ended with ‘I’m Joe Biden and I approve this message’ because it was a TV ad,” Cruz said of the videos showing the two presidents walking in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, while sirens blared.
“Zelensky is engaged in theater as well. Look, Zelensky, before he was president, he was an actor. He was a professional actor on a popular sitcom in Ukraine. And now, he’s president,” Cruz continued. “He understands acting, and so it’s a little jarring seeing all of these images of him in a sweatshirt and fatigues next to Biden in his pressed suit. Whether in the Oval Office or in Ukraine, Zelensky is always in this outfit, and it is a costume. And he understands what he’s doing. It is performance.”
Some conservatives were suspicious that the sirens during Biden’s trip were set up since CNN reporter Alex Marquardt said, “I’ve been here for the past five days. I have not heard any explosions. I have not heard any air sirens until about half an hour ago, right when President Biden was in the center of Kyiv.”
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Cruz added, “The fact that neither Biden nor Zelensky flinch, look around, do anything when the air raid sirens go off means both of them knew about it.”
Biden was criticized roundly by Republicans for visiting Ukraine instead of the residents of East Palestine, Ohio, where a train derailment released massive amounts of toxic chemicals into the environment.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday dismissed criticism of his administration’s handling of the train disaster, aimed in particular at Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, as “bad-faith attacks.”
