An American businessman and one-time Senate candidate, Peter Schiff, 58, has asked why Ukraine’s leader, Volodymyr Zelensky doesn’t put on a suit also wearing makeup before addressing members of the US Congress and Schiff was counter-followed by critics who faulted his observation and maintained the spectre that the Ukraine leader was in the middle of crises.
Schiff, who previously contested as a Republican for the seat of the U.S. Senator from Connecticut twelve years ago made the remarks shortly after Zelensky appeared before the US Senate in his now-trademark khaki green t-shirt. Schiff, who is the CEO of Euro Pacific Capital bank tweeted:
‘I understand times are hard, but doesn’t the President of the #Ukraine own a suit?. I don’t have much respect for current members of the U.S. Congress either, but I still wouldn’t address them wearing a t-shirt. I wouldn’t want to disrespect the institution or the Unites (sic) States.’
He Wrote
This brought immediate condemnation online, with a Twitter user responding saying he’d just made ‘one of your worst all time takes’.
Quoth continued:
‘The guy is in the middle of a war zone ducking mortars Peter, he’s not going to be rolling around his garment rack with him.’
But Schiff responded again by saying:
‘He was not in combat on a battlefield. Someone powdered his face. Not a hair was out of place, and he was clean-shaven with a trimmed beard. He chose to wear that t-shirt. He could have easily chosen something less informal.’
Other political commentators blasted Schiff’s tweets and defended Mr Zelensky’s outfit. ‘Good god, Peter, you’re a complete A***HOLE,’ Jon Cooper, former National Finance Chair of Draft Biden 2016, wrote.
‘I can’t believe you haven’t deleted this tweet yet.’
‘Dude, not only is he in a war-zone, where I’m sure it’s hard to get a suit press and dry clean, but even if it was possible, it’s favourable for people to see him as one of them sharing the struggle,’ a Twitter user called Jonathan added. Amy Task, an analyst at CBS Sports, said that Zelensky ‘is fighting to save the lives of others, he is putting his life at risk to do so – he could have left but he didn’t, that speaks to the man he is he is – you care about what he’s wearing, that speaks to the man you are.
Schiff replied:
‘He would not have had to press a suit. I’m sure he had a clean suit hanging in the same closet as his t-shirts. Plus even if there were not suits available, maybe a long-sleeved shirt with a collar.’
