On August 1, former American Ambassador to Russia during Obama’s tenure as President and Professor Michael McFaul apologised on Twitter for being “arrogant and idiotic” while conversing with one of his critics in DM as he boasted his lavish and wealthy lifestyle. He said that he had written the message in a private channel and did not expect it would get published in public. “But it was still a mistake. I apologise. It was arrogant and idiotic. A swarm of Russian trolls was accusing me of failure, and I responded in a most unprofessional way. Explanation, not excuse,” he added.
I wrote that message in a private channel. I did not expect it to be published. But it was still a mistake. I apologize. It was arrogant and idiotic. A swarm of Russian trolls was accusing me of failure, and I responded in a most unprofessional way. Explanation, not excuse. https://t.co/OGxdGrcaed
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) August 1, 2021
He was quoting to a tweet by Journalist Glenn Greenwald who got hold of screenshots of his conversation with a critic. Glenn wrote, “Former Obama Ambassador to Russia, fanatical Russiagater, and current Stanford Professor Michael McFaul responds to an anonymous critic in DMs by boasting what a lavish and wealthy life he leads and how he has adoring fans around the world.”
He also implied his critic worked for Putin, and said he would assume he was a Kremlin agent unless he immediately provided his real name, but that probably goes without saying. Everyone is a Kremlin agent to these elite conspiratorial loons: pic.twitter.com/VhzT0oZ6af
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) August 1, 2021
The screenshot showed a conversation between McFaul who initiated the same with his critic.
The conversation between McFaul and a critic in DM
In the conversation, McFaul had written, “I have a job for life at the best university in the world. I live in a giant house in paradise. I make close to a million dollars a year. I have adoring fans on TV and half a million followers on Twitter, 99% who also admire me. I am doing just fine without a damn visa from Russia. And I am not afraid to tweet under my own name. I feel sorry for the people like you who aren’t brave enough to do so.”
La conversación continuó un poco más, pero, aparte de pedirme que le mandara un correo para demostrarle que no soy un Putin bot, no fue muy interesante tbh.
— Anonym Lurkovsky (@perfnonfreedom) August 1, 2021
To his arrogant-sounding comment in the DM, the person identified as Anonym Lurkovsky/perfnonfreedom on Twitter replied, “All of that perfectly exemplifies the fact that American meritocracy is just a myth.” McFaul also alleged that his critic worked for Putin and urged him to send him an email to know the alleged troll is not a bot. The person said, “I highly doubt bots respond to DMs or mostly tweet in Spanish as I do.”
While sharing the screenshots, Lurkovsky had written, “Algunas cosas son inevitable (Some things are unavoidable).” He further said that the conversion went further, but it was not that interesting. He said, “The conversation continued a little longer, but apart from asking me to send him an email to show him that I am not a Putin bot, it was not very interesting tbh.”
In 2018, McFaul was put on a sanction list by Kremlin and banned from entering Russia. He had claimed it was due to his closeness to President Obama.
