Vance previously slammed Zelensky for lack of gratitude. This time, it placed him at center of tense Oval Office exchange
CNN
Campaigning in Pennsylvania last September, JD Vance seemed to strike at an unlikely political foe: the besieged president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, who’d spent most of the previous two years being hailed by Western leaders as a hero.
Campaigning in Pennsylvania last September, JD Vance seemed to strike at an unlikely political foe: the besieged president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, who’d spent most of the previous two years being hailed by Western leaders as a hero. “You know what I wish Zelensky would do when he comes to the United States of America?” Vance asked his rally audience. “Say thank you to the people of Pennsylvania and everybody else.” The crowd in Pennsylvania responded with hearty cheers. The future vice president had struck a nerve. Five months later, the moment seems prescient. A perceived lack of gratitude on the part of Zelensky is precisely what Vance seized on Friday, this time in the Oval Office, setting off an explosive rupture in ties between Washington and Kyiv and charting an unknown course for the future of the conflict. In reality, Zelensky has repeatedly thanked the United States and its leaders for supporting Ukraine. Yet for Vance, sitting on the gold brocade couch across from Zelensky, the moment thrust him to the forefront of an administration in which he had so far been relegated to supporting player. It amounted to a sudden real-life manifestation of Vance’s combative online persona, one that was quickly embraced by President Donald Trump’s team.
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