American democracy is “limping on both legs,” a senior Russian lawmaker said Thursday – a day after a violent crowd loyal to President Trump stormed the U.S. chapter in a last-ditch effort to overthrow the election.
Konstantin Kosachyov, chairman of the foreign affairs committee of Russia’s upper house, said the chaos in Washington, DC, showed that the United States had no right to hold other countries to democracy, Agence France-Presse reported.
“The losing party has more than enough reasons to accuse the winner of counterfeiting – it is clear that American democracy is limping on both legs,” Kosachyov wrote on Facebook.
“Democracy is over. Unfortunately, it hit the bottom and I say this without a hint of joy “, he added. “America is no longer tracing the course and has therefore lost the right to set it. And, even more so, to impose it on others. “
Russian state media showed images of rioters tearing down barricades and burying the building, while security forces fired tear gas and law enforcement officers fired weapons.
Moscow has long criticized US criticism of the state of Russian democracy under Vladimir Putin, accusing Washington of hypocrisy and condescension.
With the Russians celebrating Orthodox Christmas on Thursday, there was no immediate reaction from the Kremlin or the Foreign Ministry, but pro-Kremlin lawmakers jumped on the violent turmoil.
“Certainly, the United States cannot now impose electoral standards on other countries and claim to be the ‘beacon of democracy in the world,'” Leonid Slutsky, the head of foreign affairs in the lower house, told local media.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the chaos unleashed on the Chapter revealed the fragility of Western democracy.
“What we saw yesterday (Wednesday) evening and today in the United States shows above all how fragile and vulnerable Western democracy is,” Rouhani said in a state television speech on Thursday, Agence France-Presse reported. .
“We have seen that, unfortunately, the soil is fertile for populism, despite advances in science and industry,” he added. “A populist has arrived and led his country to disaster in the last four years. I hope that the whole world and the next occupants of the White House will learn from it. “
Rouhani called on the incoming administration to “compensate (for the past) and bring the country back to a position worthy of the American nation, because the American nation is a great nation.”
Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency called the United States a “fragmented democracy,” while pro-government Twitter accounts closed, circulating photos of the mafia with hashtags that included #DownfalloftheUS.
In China, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying criticized the United States for describing the Hong Kong protesters compared to scenes at the Capitol, Fox News reported.
“Everyone can remember how some American politicians and the media described the riots in Hong Kong, but they look at the choice of words today,” she told reporters, according to the network, which quoted a translation from the Global Times affiliate. state.
“The US media unanimously condemned today’s event, described it as violent and shameful and described the protesters as outraged, extremist and robbers,” she added. “But do you remember what they said about the Hong Kong riots?”
“As you said, they called it ‘a beautiful sight to behold,’ which beautifies the city’s riots as ‘heroes of democracy,’ and said the Americans would stay with them,” she said.
The Communist Youth League made a photo montage of violence in the nation’s capital on its microblog Weibo, similar to Twitter, with the title: “On the sixth, the US Congress, the most beautiful site to see.”
This seemed to mock the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, for her June 2019 comments, praising Hong Kong’s sometimes violent anti-government protests.
And Venezuela, which is under US sanctions, said events in Washington showed that the US was “suffering what it has generated in other countries with its policy of aggression.”
President Nicolás Maduro has survived US-backed opposition efforts to eradicate it, despite allegations of human rights abuses, civil unrest and a humanitarian crisis that has forced millions to flee the oil-rich country.
And the top US military commander for Africa has sent a message of reassurance to his forces, saying that America, the Constitution and its system of government remain strong despite the violent events in the US Chapter.
Army General Stephen Townsend wrote on Twitter on Thursday that America “has withstood much greater and more serious challenges in the past,” and Africa Command remains focused on its mission.
“The American people expect and need us to stand firm and look clearly at our duty – and we will,” Townsend said in a statement to his enlisted senior, Sergeant. Major Richard Thresher.
While the statement appears to be directed at its African command forces, it clearly serves as a message across Europe and Africa to US allies who watched in horror as armed and angry protesters took over the US Chapter on Wednesday. Africa Command is based in Germany.
With Post threads
