Don Jr. And Other MAGA Republicans Are Getting Torched For Calling Zelensky A ‘Welfare Queen’

On Wednesday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky visited the U.S. for the first time since the Russia invasion. For nearly a year, the nation has kept Russian forces from taking over. It’s gone terribly for Russia, but it’s far from over. Ukraine has been able to withstand invaders thanks in part to help from other nations, who’ve recognized the existential threat posed if Russian president Vladimir Putin achieves his goals. Not everyone sees Putin as a threat. As Zelensky arrived on U.S. shores, he received a chilly reception from one wing of the GOP (as well as, of course, from Putin).

MAGA Republicans were up in arms over Zelensky’s visit, which found him meeting with President Joe Biden and later addressing Congress. The usual suspects threw fits. Marjorie Taylor Greene called Zelensky a “shadow president” and his nation the “51st state.” She also blew up over foreign aid in general and singled out Mitch McConnell, who is for extending more support to Ukraine, for scorn, saying Americans were being “raped.” Greene’s former bestie Lauren Boebert was mad, too.

But arguably the most over-the-top response came from Don Jr., the son of the former president, who earned his first of two impeachments after trying to blackmail Zelensky into helping him dig up dirt on the GOP’s biggest bête noire, Hunter Biden. Sharing a story about how the U.S. was prepared to give Ukraine another $45 billion in aid, he called Zelensky “basically an ungrateful international welfare queen.”

There are arguments to be made about how much money the U.S. should give Ukraine for their fight. But Donald Trump Jr. is not someone who should be making those. (To say nothing of the loaded term “welfare queen,” with its racist and classist connotations.) Some pointed out that he really shouldn’t be making this charge the day after news broke that his father, whose tax returns are finally to be made public, didn’t even pay taxes for the last two years.

Some accused Don Jr. of projection.

Others were reminded that his father often used taxpayer dollars to do whatever he wanted.

Some argued Don Jr. was really just mad that Zelensky didn’t help his dad with his sleazy schemes.

Some challenged his use of the term “welfare queen.”

Maybe, some postulated, Jr.’s just mad that dad doesn’t love him.

Or perhaps he’s scared what Zelensky would do to him if he called him that to his face.