Smells of Political Racism': Russian Official Uses Navy Shooting to Decry American Exceptionalism

Actor Henry Winkler wasn't the only one to make a snide comment in the wake of this morning's Washington Navy Yard Shooting. Just days after Russia's intense negotiations with the United States over the ongoing Syrian conflict, Alexey Pushkov, the Eurasian nation’s parliamentary foreign affairs chief, also issued offensive commentary about the shooting.

Using his own brand of sarcasm to try and knock down the notion of American exceptionalism (the idea that the U.S. was uniquely created), Pushkow pointed to this morning's tragic rampage.

Alexey Pushkov, Russia’s parliamentary foreign affairs chief (Photo Credit: Alexey_Pushkov on Twitter)

"A new shootout at Navy headquarters in Washington - a lone gunman and 7 corpses," he wrote on his Twitter account. "Nobody’s even surprised anymore. A clear confirmation of 'American exceptionalism.’"

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/Alexey_Pushkov/status/379607712914751488"]

The message, posted in Russian, came just before a separate tweet invoking the same themes (this time in English) was posted. In the secondary message, he wrote, "The USA should part with the notion of American exceptionalism. It contradicts the principles of equal rights and smells of political racism."

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/Alexey_Pushkov/status/379610098811027457"]

These hard-hitting messages follow Russian President Vladimir Putin's New York Times op-ed in which the leader disagreed openly with patriotic Americans' views on their nation.

"I would rather disagree with a case he made on American exceptionalism, stating that the United States’ policy is ‘what makes America different. It’s what makes us exceptional,’" he wrote. "It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation."

For updates on the Washington Navy Yard shooting, read our continuously-updated coverage.

(H/T: BuzzFeed)

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