Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova visited Yahoo News this week, talking with Katie Couric and shooting from the hip about the “ridiculous” U.S. airstrikes in Syria, the scourge of fake news, President Trump, and a range of other topics.
However, one subject apparently off the table was the recent reports of concentration camps in Chechnya that holding gay men, many of whom are tortured and, in some cases, killed.
Zakharova’s response is troubling, to say the least.
Watch the segment below:
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Katie Couric asked a Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman about the torture and killing of gay men in Chechnya.
Her response is telling. pic.twitter.com/WOpZNCeDjJ
— Raymond Braun (@raymondbraun) April 28, 2017
whatevz
if russia was killing old sexual-assaulting fake christian racists, dumb fat-ass Donald would totally bottom for Vlad, bareback I bet!
1EqualityUSA
Cortisol seized her throat. Dry mouth, likely cold extremities. Almost as though her life depended on it.
ChrisK
She was visibly nervous around this subject. It’s more then obvious she’s under the gun to keep quite.
Terrycloth
Liar liar pants on fire …she’s not a very good politican if she doesn’t know how to deflect or speak political double speak to get out of answering the question
Orgoglio Masch
Conversely, does that mean Donald Trump is a good politician?
chip_in_ga
Come on Katie, how can you expect her to be informed on something that does not exist. There are no gay (homosexual) people in Chechnya. I mean really girl! (sarcasm…just in case you don’t recognize it).
fur_hunter
Chip……I love your sarcasm. Good sarcasm can be so effective. I have always loved it. Those that didn’t get it as sarcasm need to get out more. Thanks for the chuckle.
Mandrake
Anybody on here who didn’t realize your sarcasm without your having to say it was sarcasm needs to turn in his gay card and move under his bed.
ivanw222
Her field is international relationships, but she can’t talk about the actions of a neighboring country that is a satellite state of Russia? Just what international relationships does she notice?
woodroad34
I kept waiting for Katie to bring that up, especially after she mentioned the NY Times article. It was an obvious followup.
Juanjo
Chechnya is not an independent country – it is part of the Russian Federation but has some limited local autonomy. Putin is the one who put the current thug in the presidency where his regime is known for high level corruption, a terrible human rights record and a growing cult of personality. So he fits right in with Putin’s little clique of robber barons and kleptomaniac bureaucrats.
Heywood Jablowme
Technically she has an excuse there. It would be like asking a U.S. State Dept. spokesman about internal affairs in, say, Guam or American Samoa. They wouldn’t necessarily “know” all the details. However in this case, she knows, and we all know she knows.
AmishHomo
It’s insane that the US Government – and particularly Trump – hasn’t strongly denounced the abduction, torture and in some cases murder of gay men.
woodroad34
Well to be fair, our UN Ambassador has: https://thinkprogress.org/chechnya-gay-purge-haley-f09f84a0d19f
But the fat-assed Orange Titwillow has been too overwhelmed by how difficult it is to be President to actually comment on it.
Wayne_in_NYC
Why would he say anything when they are slowly but surely whittling away the Obama progress we made? Now they are “reviewing Stonewall’s designation” and have taken away Trans protections and gay hiring protections in federal positions. We should be lining up for Pence to start giving us our shock therapy to cure us all of our afflictions!
1EqualityUSA
When Agent Orange rolls out these social twisters, look to Russia. He uses us as a distraction.
strix1
Well if this does not affect international relations…at least they are investigating. Investigating = Make it go away (translated from Russian)
SMH
kevins48
the kellyann conway of russia.
woodroad34
Oddly, though, she seems more human than the nutcracker Conway.
Curtispsf
Well this certainly gives some perspective to the claim “I was discriminated against because this bakery would not bake me a wedding cake.”
Deepdow
And that was discrimination. You may want to live in a world where random businesses can deny you service but not many other people do. This is America after all. Or did you think it was Russia?
ChrisK
That’s because your the house fa*got that will happily take whatever scraps your master gives you.
jasentylar
Cmon let’s not bicker amongst ourselves.
GayEGO
I expect Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova to say they found nothing and will deny, deny, deny any involvement as they usually do. Besides, she probably knows that Putin will poison her if she reveals any of the horrible anti-gay atrocities going on in Chechnya.
1EqualityUSA
Marco. Polo. Marco Polonium-210.
Wayne_in_NYC
Putin asked his puppet from Chechnya if there was anything going on and he replied that there was no problem. No problem because he’s slowly eliminating the problems one by one. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/chechnya-gay-men-russian-reporter-hiding-detention-torture-elena-milashina-novaya-gazeta-100-men-a7703471.html
ChrisK
Wow. I thought it was brave of the Russian Reporter. Now he’s running for his life predictably. Putin will do everything including killing himself to cover this up.
He BGB
The woman is terrified. Release the hounds! Said Putin.
o.codone
Personally I cannot address the topic of discussion, it is not my area of expertise. However, now there are three bitches I want to throw a bucket of water on, Katie the Pushy Bitch, Madonna the Old has-been bitch and Hillary the demented loser battleax bitch. May they all go TF away once and for all.
ChrisK
Yeah, lets attack Katie for doing her job. Ha. You can’t stand women that stand up for themselves and speak their minds is all. POS Fa*got Capo.
o.codone
Doing her “job”? She don’t even have a real job. She’s a celebrity, that’s all. No REAL journalist would conduct themselves the way she does. She’s a schlock, a hack, a partisan, a misandric (man hating) bitch. Thank God we don’t have to look at her on a daily basis the way we used to. And someday soon she’ll just get in the uber with Hillary and Madonna and someone will drive them off the cliff. Bye bye.
JoeyRamone
Oh, oxy.codone, I know it’s hard to type and talk with missing teeth and twisted fingers, but please don’t stop. You are sure as hell entertaining, y’old queen!
o.codone
The teeth are all straightened and capped. You probably know first hand, meth does that. And, since when is age shaming acceptable. I thought fags were all about tolerance, acceptance and diversity. Then you shoot your ugly hater mouth off about how old someone is. Besides that, I’m not old. Bitch.
dwes09
One need not be old to have an ossified intellect. And troll, you certainly have that. So Katie earns your ire by trying to get a comment regarding the mistreatment of gay people in a Russian controlled state? That says a lot about the level of dysfunction in your brain, unless you are one of the several heterosexual trolls here masquerading as gay folks. Not surprised. Kind of ambivalent about your prescription painkiller use though. On the one hand it is sad to see anyone destroying what little intellect they had, on the other it will get rid of disingenuous scum like you more quickly.
Lvng1Tor
Come on, folks…Why even engage o.codone? It is only here to watch it burn by trolling everyone. While you are fuming in your responses to it over the disgusting crap they spew its just getting its jollies off. They don’t care what you say and only feed off the energy y’all waste on its b!ggot @ss. Just stop and let it starve on its own bile.
He BGB
Don’t joke about the refusal to bake cakes for gays. You may think what is happening in Eastern Europe and the Middle East would never happen here (in the US) BUT more and more conservative evangelicals are wanting power and want to turn this country into a theocracy. They may be hanging, shooting and pushing gay men off bldgs there but when religion thinks that gay men are not of nature, won’t be making more evangelicals and Muslims, and just pure fear, homophobia, ignorance on top of that, it could happen. Don’t fool yourself. Look what’s happening now in the US government who are in power.
baal61
Damn Straight! He BGB’
Herman75
There is death rhetoric coming from the alt-right side. An alt-right lawyer from my town, Matt McLaughlin, submitted a ballot initiative that gay men will be executed by a bullet to the head. This is not fake news, in case you didn’t read about it. Kamala Harris took it to court to get the initiative 86’d before going on the ballot. Their think tanks are coming up with this sh!t.
I commend Katie Couric and am sad to hear those that ridicule her. Horrible people.
baal61
what a lying piece of shit She is’ Russia’ sanctions videotaping’ thugs’ breaking into the homes of gay men’ beating and torturing them’ We as what’s left of a democratic nation’ must push’ intrude’ demand! The truth of what is happening in Checnya’ We and the rest of the free world’ are the only voice’ hopefully soon eyes of these hate crimes’ Genocides only happen’ when people look away.
fur_hunter
No one remembers the Holacost. This is exactly how it began back then, with the Jews and gays. And NO ONE wanted to believe it or do something about it.
Wayne_in_NYC
Katie should have shown her video footage that’s been posted of the beatings and torture!! Let her respond to the facts!
fur_hunter
I see no one has learned a lesson from history…and it seems it is repeating itself. Does ANYONE remember the Holacost? Does ANYONE remember what Hitler did to the Jews and gays back in the day? Obviously NOT. This is exactly how it began then. Wake up, People! History is repeating itself and you are sitting on your @$$es, doing nothing.
brickdr66
WOW
itzallan
I could be wrong, but I think she doesn’t care to talk about people in her country being rounded up and tortured to death in concentration camps.
stnc
Remember Iran and Tehran years ago saying that homosexuality doesn’t exist in their countries? Simply because even if suspected of being gay, they disappear and are then murdered. The same ia happening in Chechnya. * An investigation is under way* Bull shit! Russia stated weeks ago that Chechnya was given religious rule by the Muslim / Islam law. That is why Gay are being rounded up and exterminated. Just as Putin would like to do!
chip_in_ga
Please stop referring to oxy_codone as a fag, queen, queer etc. We have standards as she/he/it does not meet them. Oxy is an ignorant POS that should not be allowed near a keyboard.
o.codone
Chimp_in_GA. I am too a queer. I mean seriously, how TF would you know?
dwes09
Oh please, you are a heterosexual evangelical christian, who finds themselves addirted to painkillers to the point of severely impaired intellect (though likely you never had much in that department). You are here to share your hatred for gay folks and push a right wing agenda. We all see that, we all know that, we all either pity or laugh at you. Go away already, there is no value in anything you post, especially when you express support for our oppressors so obviously.
natekerchel
For sure if those people being killed and tortured were right wing bigoted christians trump would be apoplectic with anger and positively foaming at the mouth. I read one trump apologist – a supposedly gay man on here – defend him by saying that the American UN ambassador had raised the issue. Not good enough. The President of the USA is the ‘leader of the free world’ – that means he has a responsibility to highlight unacceptable behaviour anywhere in the world. Trump want the power but not the responsibility – especially when it comes to coming to the aid of lgbt people. I believe that if the extremist christians in the USA got their way then being gay wold once again become illegal – and worse would follow. They voted trump – he owes them.
porusky
Before asking questions Katie, deal with the coverup bigotry in US that no one wants to notice or deal with, how about that one babes?!
ChrisK
Yeah, that’s a swell idea. Because it’s not perfect here we just ignore international atrocities anytime they happen.
Thomas
Sickening. While not the typical slick/savvy response of “it’s being reviewed and investigated” it seems that she was simply indifferent to the issue. Her initial response of “this is not my issue” does indeed speak volumes about the situation happening in Chechnya and Russia’s approach to LGBTQ issues.
corasteele45646
Here’s how you can fill up your bank account with additional cash each week… Read more by visiting this page
follow this link…
Sluggo2007
It’s entirely possible that this obviously stupid bitch doesn’t understand the question.