Luliia Mendel, a former spokeswoman for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, explained to CNN why she deleted a tweet saying it would be a "tragedy" if Vice President Kamala Harris became president of the United States.
Mendel tweeted her opinion in response to Harris awkwardly laughing when speaking about the Ukrainian refugee crisis that was sparked by Russia's major military offensive of the country. Over one million people, mostly women, children, and the elderly have left Ukraine as fighting has intensified in major cities and small villages. Harris was in Poland cohosting a press conference during the heavily-criticized moment.
"I deleted that tweet because I was explained that Kamala Harris had this kind of particular communication when she feels uncomfortable. But for us, for Ukrainians, it is really — it was a very bad experience to see this type of reaction, a laugh, when we were listening about one of the biggest tragedies of Ukraine right now, when so many millions of Ukrainians are turned into refugees," said Mendel.
"However, we also understand that the United States is very united around Ukraine and we really appreciate their support of $13.6 billion that were provided to Ukrainian army and to Ukrainian humanitarian aid," she continued. "And, in fact, Kamala Harris is the [inaudible], so we understand, even if her communication was somehow inappropriate, probably her actions make more sense and show more than, you know, some of her communication behaviors."
The Kyiv Independent reported "140,000 people have returned to Ukraine since the start of Russia's invasion. According to the State Border Guard Service, 80% of those returning are men."
