'Mentally deranged and must be opposed': Trump hammered for 'weird' Zelensky claim

A rant by Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform attacking President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Ukraine as a "dictator" was on the receiving end of a barrage of criticism on social media on Wednesday morning.

An overnight comment by the leader of Ukraine who stated, "Unfortunately, President Trump, with all due respect to him as the leader of a nation that we greatly respect... is living in this disinformation bubble," appears to have gotten under The U.S. president's skin, and led to a diatribe where Trump ranted, among other things, "A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left. In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia, something all admit only 'TRUMP,' and the Trump Administration, can do."

That led to a pile-on from Trump critics, with former MNSNBC host Mehdi Hasan firing back, "Put aside the nastiness of this post, & the way in he attacks Zelenskyy as a dictator but says not a word about his pal Putin, & just focus on the way it is written: would you hire this weird person to work for you? Would you trust this odd person to teach your kid in school?"

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MSNBC's Kyle Griffin bluntly wrote, "Trump just said in response that Zelenskyy is a 'Dictator without Elections.' That is not true."

On the Lincoln Project's Bluesky account, the group wrote, "Trump is a Russian stooge. Putin may as well written this himself. And any Republican in Congress who said they support our allies before, but are silent today over this, are worthless."

Journalist and author Steve Beschloss wrote, "That Trump is now calling Pres. Zelensky a 'dictator' and talked the U.S. into spending $350 billion (a lie) for a war Ukraine started (another disgusting lie) should remind you the White House occupant is mentally deranged and must be opposed at all times."

"I have no words. He's actually doubling down," wrote Salon columnist J Heather "Digby" Parton.

The New York Times' Eric Lipton contributed, "Trump goes after President Zelenskyy of Ukraine...Turning a relationship with this foreign nation upside down."

Journalist Mark Chadbourn labeled Trump "the most thin-skinned man in politics."

"So many threads to pull here; the atrocious grasp of history & geopolitik, the glib lie about how the war in Ukraine began, the disgraceful abandonment of European allies. But it’s the alignment with the war criminal Putin, no friend of ours, that sticks out. What won’t Trump do to harm us?" asked former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance.