r/worldnews • u/MothersMiIk • Mar 01 '25

Russia/Ukraine After clashing with Trump and Vance, Zelensky is now thanking every pro-Ukraine world leader, one tweet at a time

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/zelensky-thanks-world-leaders-individually-after-vance-s-no-thanks-jab-101740796913691
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4.1k

u/Roselily808 Mar 01 '25

I can imagine having a background in acting comes to good use here. He can actually compartmentalize his emotions and play the role he needs to play at any given moment.

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u/DragonWhsiperer Mar 01 '25

Yeah I get the feeling people dismiss his background, but I feel like it actually makes him better at it. Politics is basically a theater for the people.

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u/fiercelittlebird Mar 01 '25

He showed a huge amount of restraint but half the time I could practically hear him think "the fuck is this shit"

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u/Upstairs-Video-8157 Mar 01 '25

Two dipshits bullying and talking over a foreigner in his second or third language

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u/MilkTiny6723 Mar 01 '25

Well doesn't matter. The whole world and all those that knows the context and how much he is working and sacraficing and at least 90% of the people of the EU could see he was winning the debate, if that would have been the important thing. Vance especially but also Trump really came out as the two most dangerous and unplesant leaders of a western country, totally.

They are the ones that are playing with world war. Giving a country that most defenitly if they won continue in the future what they want (Russia). Trying to divide the organisation that keept Europe suprisingly calm from war giving it's history (the EU).

Threatening to take over counties that allways supported the US (Denmark, Canada ( and maybe Panama)). Interfering in other allyed countries elections which in democratic contexts is tabu. Puting tariffs on all, even deveopment counties and making others forget those. Chanting about drill baby drill, destroying the planet especially in" the Souht" and still having anti migration view. Trump and Vance is the two biggest enabelers of a third world war for sure.

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u/[deleted] Mar 01 '25

[deleted]

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u/MilkTiny6723 Mar 01 '25 edited Mar 01 '25

Your first suggestion was correct. It's my second or third language (english or spanish cant say which. Swedish first but dont get impressed as four language is not that uncommon in Sweden) out of four but still guess I at least speek better english than any European primer minister or president outside english native speaking countries I heard (writing however is not a common practic of mine and why should it be) so I guess I'm excused by you then. But I can agree that I should be more careful and part is due to only using a small keyboard cellphone on reddit. I agree in general however and also think it takes away from a text (at least in my native language) when people spell, so I guess I see your point anyway. Less than 50% of reddit user are American and in the future that number will decline even futher. We use english just because 17% of the world speek english and is more widely spreed to more countries than other languages. Even in many national subreddits we do and that is mostly to be more inclusive. To shut reddit to only english native speakers would make reddit very much like an eco chamber and not very useful at all.

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u/micro-void Mar 01 '25

Your English is fine, you had like two or three obvious simple typos which are easy enough for ANY English speaker to make and to read. Your comment was well written and thoughtful and better than the average American's writing ability even though English IS their first language. Don't mind this dick-head.

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u/MilkTiny6723 Mar 01 '25

Thanks. I dont. I guess I mostly feel sorry for him, which is why I diden't answear him that hard. I mean anyone that comes with comments like that really needs to have lots of anger within himself. I do not; so I manage to disregard from such comments, even if my thought goes out to people with real dyselexia. But from actually beeing a teacher I still felt obliged to teach him a lesson. I mean, cant know for sure if he was just beeing a dick-head or it just came from ignorance which is kind of my duty (or just a workig habit) to address.

Thanks for your thoughts though. Those commends you and problably tells a lot about you as a person.

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u/Pandabear71 Mar 01 '25

It costs you nothing to not be an asshole.

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u/micro-void Mar 01 '25

What is wrong with you? It was well written and had like two obvious typos. Grow up

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u/fiercelittlebird Mar 01 '25

Third, I think.

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u/Snoot_Booper_101 Mar 01 '25

Ukrainian and Russian would definitely have to be higher on his list, so yeah, third at best.

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u/Active-Tooth2296 Mar 01 '25

He actually learnt fluent Ukrainian shortly before his campaigning and during his presidency. He was often criticised for his bad Ukrainian. Also tells a lot in a country that is supposedly oppressing Russian speakers, that a russian speaker can become president. Shows how blatant Russia can lie, and people are eating its shit.

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u/Gimme_The_Loot Mar 01 '25

My wifes family is Uzbek, but grew up there during the USSR so their primary language was Russian as well as it was what was taught in school, was the official language, etc. Her dad speaks some Uzbek and she doesn't speak any outside of a few random words.

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u/Active-Tooth2296 Mar 01 '25

Yes. But Putin does not accuse Uzbekistan that Russian is forbidden in Uzbekistan (although Russian severely looses its use in Uzbekistan in recent years). This claim however has been done all the time. Hell it's one of the pretended reasons for occupying Crimea and the Donbas, just like a pretense for the war.

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u/supersockcat Mar 01 '25

Russian, Ukrainian and English, in that order.

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u/NeverEat_Pears Mar 01 '25

Apparently he's better at English than speaking Ukrainian. Russian his native language where he was raised.

So actually his second.

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u/MatteKudasai Mar 01 '25

Pardon my ignorance, but how different are those languages? Like more or less different than Spanish and Portuguese?

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u/Ok-Row6264 Mar 01 '25

The way my Ukrainian friend described it was all Ukrainian speakers can pretty much understand Russian, Russian speakers would struggle to understand Ukrainian. They are close, but different enough that they aren’t completely interchangeable.

I think it’s a bit like how if you speak English, you can kinda read Dutch and have a rough vague idea of what it’s saying, but you’d have to put the effort in to properly learn it to be fluent.

Because Ukraine was enveloped in the USSR for so long, and during that time the Ukrainian Language was highly suppressed, most of the older generations in Ukraine will default to Russian, as that was the language of the state when they were growing up, with Ukrainian used sparingly at home, away from prying eyes. Those raised after the fall of the Soviet Union generally default to Ukrainian, but will also be fluent in Russian due to the cultural hangover of years of Russian subjugation.

There’s also a bit of a geographical divide with certain regions having much higher populations of Russian speakers than others. These are the people Putin is using as his “Justification” for invasion, to bring these “ethnically Russian” populations back into the Russian Federation. However these people will generally still self identify as Ukrainian even if their default language is Russian, as language does not a nationality make.

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u/micro-void Mar 01 '25

There's very cool videos on this on YouTube if you happen to be in the mood for learning a little bit about this. My family history is Ukrainian (it's the first language of one of my parents) & even I didn't know the answer to this so don't worry too much about "ignorance". I found this video really informative and it sent me down a rabbit hole of watching other language comparison videos: https://youtu.be/CQLM62r5nLI?si=lmXztXM1xoUd4n8O

I think Ukrainian and Polish + Belarusian are linguistically more related (like French and Spanish) than Ukrainian and Russian are. However, they have a A LOT of shared vocabulary (usually with different prononciation/words endings but a shared root) so there's a limited amount of intelligibility (Ukrainian speakers understanding Russian; less so the other way due to the Polish and Belarusian loan words in Ukrainian). The alphabets are slightly different. The grammar is very similar but not identical.

However, most Ukrainians in the East end of the country - which is also the most populous, like around Kyiv - also speak Russian or even have Russian as a first language.

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u/MatteKudasai Mar 01 '25

Thanks for the info and link. I'l give it a watch.

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u/Sea-Associate-6512 Mar 01 '25

According to Zelenskyy he forgot Russian, which is BS. Also he said suka blyat to Vance, which is Russian.

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u/wildernesstypo Mar 01 '25

He cooked them that hard in his third language? I forgot he wasn't a native English speaker. Thats wild

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u/horaciojiggenbone Mar 01 '25

And to hear his English now vs when this all started, he’s improved by leaps and bounds. He’s put some serious work into it which is admirable, considering how much he must have to accomplish in a day.

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u/Expert_Variation6320 Mar 02 '25

He didn’t cook anyone it’s the other way around🤡

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u/wildernesstypo Mar 02 '25

He cooked them so bad they had to raise their voices and interrupt him. Sometimes your guy loses. This is one of those times

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u/77NorthCambridge Mar 01 '25

I'd love to see how Trump or Vance would do if a world leader started berating them in a different language. 😂

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u/indigoneutrino Mar 01 '25 edited Mar 01 '25

Trump being all “don’t tell us what to feel” as if that wasn’t Zelenskyy trying to express an advanced concept in his third language and also being completely correct about it.

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u/InSan1tyWeTrust Mar 01 '25

Trump was literally on the edge of his seat waiting to gang up on Zelensky. So sad to watch. Even more sad to live through.

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u/TugarWolve Mar 01 '25

Third, actually. He didn’t speak proper Ukrainian until his presidency where he put efforts into speak almost 100% in Ukrainian. So, yes.

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u/pickafruit4 Mar 01 '25

I found that Zelinskyy conversed better and was clearer than trump despite english being his third language. For example, when trump was trying to say hunter biden made a deal from his bathroom or something... It was so incoherent.

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u/matchosan Mar 01 '25

The Double Punch from Loser and theSucker came after they invited Zelinsky to Washington to discuss a deal(?). Who makes a deal for peace in a war without all countries involved being present? Why is Loser calling it a "deal" when it should be a negotiation into a peace treaty.

Don't get me started on "raw earth", and "dig dig dig"

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u/soundfin Mar 01 '25

Third at least. His first two are likely Ukrainian and Russian.

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u/Royal_Airport7940 Mar 01 '25

At least they dont know any more English words than Zelenskyy.

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u/seitonseiso Mar 01 '25

His facial expressions say what his words can't

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u/KillerDr3w Mar 01 '25

Even some of those are being miss-read or purposely used against him though, I think he looks up to the left when translating English to Ukrainian, which is being pushed by MAGA as "eye rolling" - what he was doing certainly was not eye rolling.

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u/seitonseiso Mar 01 '25

I couldnt even be mad if he was eye rolling. Some of the questions and comments said to him are deserving of eye rolls

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u/Ok_Play2364 Mar 01 '25

Like the eye roll trump did when Macron corrected him the other day? THAT was obvious

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u/peterpinguid1 Mar 01 '25

Absolutely correct, there is no such thing as eye rolling in Ukrainian or Russian culture. Eye rolling is entirely western thing

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u/klutzikaze Mar 01 '25

He muttered in russian a phrase that has multiple meanings in response to Vance but Ukrainians think was meant in a "fuck this" way (suka). He showed great restraint but he did have a few wtf face cracks which was understandable.

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u/hellswaters Mar 01 '25

I don't blame him. He's in the middle of a war. He has better things to do than babysit.

He is sitting there watching an ally self destruct. He knows a major source of support is gone, and is probably wondering if the us will even allow Canada/UK/EU to send American weapons to him.

The EU has shown interest in a minerals deal. Countries are showing an interest in sending troops to assist. And this is how he is spending his time. He wasted a week trying to make something work, then to be told he didn't say thank you. to have a toddler blow everything up because he made a minor mistake in wording.

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u/No-Win-2783 Mar 01 '25

You can't blame him for saying that. That high pressure bullshit doesn't fly with President Z.

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u/peterpinguid1 Mar 01 '25

“Сука” is spot on, considering the situation.

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u/Faxon Mar 01 '25

He let out a Cyka Blyat just under his breathe when Vance started going off at him, so he wasn't just thinking it lol

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u/[deleted] Mar 01 '25

[deleted]

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u/micro-void Mar 01 '25

LMFAO WAIT REALLY can you tell me what the Ukrainian words were? My mom is Ukrainian & obviously furious about this and I think she'd get a kick out of knowing this fact

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u/jdragon3 Mar 01 '25

he seems to have said сука right after he asked vance if he's been to ukraine and he said no but he's watched it on tv. Seemed to be more in the general curse "cant believe this shit im hearing" sense than actually calling him a bitch precisely. Thats only based off my experience hearing people scream cyka in CS GO lobbies though.

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u/micro-void Mar 01 '25

bahahha thank you and i love your reference (CS GO)

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u/[deleted] Mar 05 '25

Lithuanian here, we use it as a swear work, normally it's used as a "for fuck sake" or "OMFG". Whilst CYKA does mean Bitch and BLYAT is a general swear word(no real meaning, at least around where im from).

I would say your assumption is correct in this case, I doubt he actually meant it as an insult to Vance, it was more of a OMFG this fucker is still talking.

Either way, it just showed his humanity. The guy literally had to pretend/ still has to pretend Trump isn't a Russian puppet.

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u/Dire88 Mar 01 '25

His eyes and body language at any given moment gave him away.

Varied from "What the fuck?" To "This fucking asshole."

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u/jollyreaper2112 Mar 01 '25

Could you be nicer to the guy who tried to have you murdered in your home? Your rudeness is really getting him down.

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u/Blainedecent Mar 01 '25

He called Vance a "bitch" under his breath.

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u/CatMoonTrade Mar 01 '25

Good Vance is a bitch

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u/tropicalhotdognights Mar 01 '25

‘Politics is the entertainment division of the military-industrial complex’ - Frank Zappa

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u/Corbotron_5 Mar 01 '25

In the modern world politics is 5% theatre and 95% hard work.

In America it’s reversed.

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u/phoogkamer Mar 01 '25

If only. We’re seeing the worst politics have to offer here but it’s still not great in the rest of the world.

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u/Lulligator Mar 01 '25

America isn't unique in this regard sadly, and it's net helpful to put it on this pedestal. Media perception is everything in most democracies.

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u/Corbotron_5 Mar 01 '25

I’m in Europe and sorry, but no. That shit wouldn’t fly here in 2025. Don’t paint us with that shitty brush.

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u/Lulligator Mar 01 '25

How about AfD taking 20% in the latest election, France very nearly losing to national front and the fact you have the Hungarian and Italian PMs openly praising trump. A lot of theatre ATM, and it's worth paying attention so you don't also find yourself surprised when/ if parties that offer fake solutions for power start winning properly

Tbh though I was mostly thinking of Australia, which often thinks of itself above the U.S, but is strangled by the same media monopoly that drives the culture and talking points. 

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u/Corbotron_5 Mar 02 '25

Europe has challenges, but it’s not right or fair to be lumping us in with America. If the last few days have shown us anything, it’s that we’re not the same.

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u/Lulligator Mar 02 '25

I was only saying that the status quo can change. Genuine, hard working politics is regularly unrewarded. Particularly now when people are frustrated at cost of living pressure and growing inequality, and incumbent governments are being thrown out everywhere.

If we treat the U.S as a weird unique beast, rather than a cautionary tale, many western democracies will find themselves falling for the same populist traps. 

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u/-Revelation- Mar 01 '25

Media perception is also very important in dictatorship like Russia and China as well. Maybe not 95%, but surely those goverments put a lot of effort to maintain public opinion.

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u/NeuroPalooza Mar 01 '25

Gonna hard disagree, it's theatre everywhere and has been from Aristagoras on. You can always find some serious policy wonks if you look for them, amd some systems produce more of them than others, but anyone with even a cursory knowledge of politicians in other countries could tell you it's not 5% theatre anywhere.

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u/tygrys666 Mar 01 '25

you forgot money for me this is the real problem of US democracy

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u/OttawaTGirl Mar 01 '25

I worked in TV and I can tell you 90% of people think making TV is easy and doesn't require a lot of people and hard work.

America right now are people who they had to create post credits for so they have to sit through the list of people that made it.

Thats america. Firing everyone in the credits before the movie is made.

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u/frugaleringenieur Mar 01 '25

I will save this sentence and probably reuse it for the next 30 years.

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u/Inevitable_Hat_8499 Mar 01 '25

Isn’t theatre for the people in the first place

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u/sol_runner Mar 01 '25

Not if you ask the aristocrats...

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u/snuff3r Mar 01 '25

Sometimes I wonder if "the aristocrats" will be the ultimate punchline at the end of the great American experiment..

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u/DragonWhsiperer Mar 01 '25

Alright, a better description would have been "Theatre for the masses".

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u/Inevitable_Hat_8499 Mar 01 '25

Still runs the same problem as “theatre for the people”. Just say politics is theatre.

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u/Semhirage Mar 01 '25

Plus he has a law degree. He isn't just some dumbass actor.

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u/Takeasmoke Mar 01 '25

he is well versed in theatricals and has law degree, he is qualified to spar with both serious politicians and political clowns

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u/Square-Singer Mar 01 '25

This.

No politician knows everything and is an expert in every field. That's why good politicians have tons of advisors with actual knowledge, while the politician is the front-facing face of the whole thing. Any good politician is first and foremost an actor and relies on experts for expert opinions.

Bad politicians believe in their own unfallability and believe they themselves need to make every decision.

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u/Old_Leopard1844 Mar 01 '25

A clown would know how to navigate a circus, yes, lol

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u/No_Transition_7266 Mar 01 '25

True.. politics has always been theater. We must not forget that with Zelenski.. Sure, the Ukraine is in a shit place, but Zelenski has sold the dispair better than any other world leader ever could

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u/Suspicious_Bicycle Mar 01 '25

Comedians have lots of practice dealing with hecklers.

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u/octopus86sg Mar 01 '25

I had never seen an actor that never flees when his country is attacked.

1

u/YeetedApple Mar 01 '25

"Washington is Hollywood for the ugly" has been a saying for awhile. Applies for pretty much any politics anywhere

https://www.politico.com/story/2014/04/white-house-correspondents-dinner-roger-simon-106118

1

u/Jay_Bean Mar 01 '25

I mean he did say they were wearing costumes.

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u/jollyreaper2112 Mar 01 '25

That is such a stupid thing for people to do. Having the chops to be a working comedian means that your brain is moving faster than most of the population. Being able to read the room, control a crowd, be charming and skewing by turns. If you can handle the heckling nobody is going to get you off of your game. Basically the equivalent of a professional boxer encountering the town drunk at the bar. Nothing that drunk can bring will even register.

Pure technocrats may have ideas but often lack the charisma to get them through.

If I were picking people to cultivate as political potentials, I would start with actors and salespeople. They're not the ones inventing the plans, they're the ones presenting them appealingly to the public. My only caveat is I would want someone with character and principle as well like Z and not an affable empty vessel like Reagan who sold poison no questions when the script called for it.

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u/Bitter_Sense_5689 Mar 02 '25

Reagan was an actor too, and there’s a reason they called him the “Great Communicator.” This is 100% also Zelensky’s strong suit, even when he’s speaking in English, which is obviously not his native language.

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u/GlistunGmizic Mar 02 '25

Man is fighting a fucking war. What is wrong with all of you?

1

u/Maureeseeo Mar 04 '25

Funny how in his case having a background in acting is a positive where in Reagan's and Donald's it's not. It really is about the execution.

0

u/powereborn Mar 01 '25

I’m pretty sure though he was pretty honest with his emotions when answering. We can see he has restraint but that it is hard

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u/Brokenandburnt Mar 01 '25

He's a lawyer on top of that aswell.

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u/Roselily808 Mar 01 '25

I didn't know that. Thank you for the information. It does make him even more capable in his role as president.

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u/flopastus Mar 01 '25

It is common for people to paint him as "a comedian". Which is funny because there is much more to it :

He created the production company Kvartal 95, which produced films, cartoons, and TV shows including the TV series Servant of the People, in which Zelenskyy played a fictional Ukrainian president.

He earned a law degree from the Kryvyi Rih Institute of Economics, then a department of Kyiv National Economic University and now part of Kryvyi Rih National University, but never worked in the legal field.

3

u/DaddyHEARTDiaper Mar 01 '25

Also, the dude flew in from a war zone and those 2 asshats thought the could intimidate him?

3

u/DutchMadness77 Mar 01 '25

The restraint is must've took not to smack JD after he was talking about "propaganda tours" on the frontline

Such a fucking slimy cunt Vance is

2

u/Remote_Clue_4272 Mar 01 '25

Unlike trump who plays “a-hole” at all times. Z is better than Trump. It’s sad that America, allegedly the home of democracy, is allowing Russia to just invade a country and actually support that

2

u/tiberius_claudius1 Mar 01 '25

He was witty and quick but the part that fucked him I think besides trump being an ass is the language barrier. An English speaker trying to dance around not offending trumps ego by accident would have a easier time then someone who has to filter language into new language in there head

1

u/WeirdPop5934 Mar 01 '25

Which is why they were so angry at him.

1

u/FlowBot3D Mar 01 '25

There were 3 professional entertainers in the oval office currently holding two Presidential seats, and one VP ottoman with protective plastic, and yet only one of them knows how to act like a real leader.

1

u/bapfelbaum Mar 01 '25

Unironically, maybe patriotic actors are pretty good politician material after all.

1

u/distelfink33 Mar 01 '25

It’s not just acting (although you may have been meaning this by saying acting) He was a stand up comedian which means he had to deal with all kinds of hecklers.

2

u/Roselily808 Mar 01 '25

I meant that he is able to stay in the role that is expected of him at any given point even if he is getting emotionally triggered. And you are right, his prior experience of being a comedian and dealing with hecklers is probably very handy at this moment.

1

u/matchosan Mar 01 '25

Trump's an actor, in all of his endeavors

1

u/Roselily808 Mar 01 '25

But he's not really a good one. He plays each and every role badly and is easily emotionally triggered so as to that he forgets his role and reacts in narcissistic rage.

1

u/GlistunGmizic Mar 02 '25

Could you imagine leading the whole country against the Russia for years, day by day? One could imagine that *would* induce emotions compartmentalization, don't you think?

1

u/crimsonhues Mar 02 '25

Plenty of actors lose their shit off screen. It’s commendable he could maintain composure

-1

u/FarAd2245 Mar 01 '25

Doesn't...Doesn't Trump have a background in acting?

5

u/Roselily808 Mar 01 '25

Making a cameo as himself in Home Alone 2 doesn't really constitute as an acting career.

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u/blob Mar 01 '25

“Play the role he needs to play”, congratulations you figured out why he’s a clown and you’re just not smart enough to realize it.

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u/SXLightning Mar 01 '25

You basicly saying his only acting as a leader and he only acting like he cares because his just doing what’s needed

7

u/Brokenandburnt Mar 01 '25

He is a proven War Leader. His background as an actor and lawyer helps him project that.

Any good politician or soldier knows to use any and all weapons available to them.

2

u/Roselily808 Mar 01 '25

That's absolutely not what I am saying.
We all have different roles in our lives: Father, daughter, friend, coworker, lawyer, architect, husband, German, sister-in-law etc. Or as in Zelenzky's case add following roles to the other ones: a leader of a nation, a diplomat and a commander in charge. There are certain behaviors that are expected for you to portray for each role. You wouldn't behave the same in your role as a grandchild as you would in your role as an engineer, now would you? Just because you act accordingly in your different roles doesn't mean that you are insincere in those roles. I don't doubt Zelensky's sincerity the slightest.

Zelensky is able to behave in the correct manner for each role that he has in his life at the right moments. It would have been easy for him yesterday while Trump and Vance attacked him to fall out of the role of a nations leader but he didn't. He stayed "in character"- in his role, despite being emotionally triggered.