Twitter users react to Zelensky’s speech to Congress

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelesnky’s speech to a joint meeting of Congress received rave reviews on social media, with several users remarking on the wartime leader’s masterful command of the English language. 

“I’ll give him this: He speaks better English than our President. And Our Vice President. And our Speaker of the House,” podcast host Gerry Callahan wrote on Twitter, mocking President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“And [Zelensky] dresses better than the slob Pennsylvanians just sent to the Senate,” Callahan added, taking a cheap shot at Sen.-elect John Fetterman (D-Pa.), one of the New York Times’s “most stylish” people of 2022. 

Kyle Poen, a regional coordinator with Students for Life, echoed Callahan in a Twitter post, noting that the non-native English speaker’s oratory skills surpassed that of the 80-year-old president.  

“One thing is for certain: Zelensky, with English being far from his primary language, is a better speaker than Biden,” Poen observed.

CBS News Colorado reporter Dillon Thomas called the Ukrainian leader’s speech “incredible” and said he did better in a foreign language than some TV talking heads do in their native language.

“Incredible to see Volodymyr Zelenskyy give an entire LIVE prime time address to a foreign [country] in a foreign language to him… I know Americans who get paid to speak English on TV every day and still have difficulties,” Thomas tweeted.

CNN global affairs analyst Bianna Golodryga noted that Zelensky’s oration, done “masterfully in English,” likely irritated Russian President Vladimir Putin, who rarely is heard speaking English in public. 

“No doubt this speech, this venue, this bipartisan applause, all get under Putin’s skin. The chef’s kiss? That Zelensky is delivering it masterfully in English,” Golodryga tweeted. 

Zelensky thanked Congress on Wednesday for sending US military aid to Ukraine as it fights off Russian invaders.

“Against all odds and doom and gloom scenarios, Ukraine didn’t fall. Ukraine is alive and kicking,” the 44-year-old leader said after receiving a standing ovation from both chambers of Congress as he walked toward the podium.