Twitter on McCain: 'Butt-Hurt, Russia-Obsessed' Senator 'Has Lost His Mind'

© AP Photo / Rick ScuteriArizona Senator John McCain
Arizona Senator John McCain - Sputnik International
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John McCain, the hawkish Arizona senator well-known in Russia for his Russophobic outbursts, launched another tirade against Moscow on Sunday, calling President Putin a "thug and a murderer" and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov a "stooge" and "propagandist." Russian officials responded to the offensive remarks. So did Twitter users.

Speaking to Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace, McCain lashed out against President Trump for hosting the Russian foreign minister in the White House. Lavrov, the senator said, "had no business in the Oval Office." 

McCain went on to call the foreign minister "the stooge of a thug and murderer," his choice of words to describe the Russian president, and claimed that President Putin had "committed human rights violations all over the place."

US Sen. John McCain - Sputnik International
Kremlin on McCain: 'Thank God This Gentleman Does Not Shape US Foreign Policy'
The senator's comments, picked up by Russian media, went over in a big way in the comments sections of Russian news sites. Users asked why the US seems to have such a large collection of poorly educated, ill-mannered politicians, and added that they too would love to send uncensored 'words of admiration' of their own to the senator if it weren't for the comments sections' moderators.

Russian officials couldn't leave the insults without a response. For her part, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that McCain's comments showed that there didn't seem to be enough politicians inside the US itself for the senator to insult with his "poison."

"Apart from pity, McCain has not brought forth any emotions [among Russians] for a long time now," she added.

A handout photo made available by the Russian Foreign Ministry on May 10, 2017 shows US President Donald J. Trump (C) speaking with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) and Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergei Kislyak during a meeting at the White House in Washington, DC - Sputnik International
Russian MP on McCain's Words About Lavrov, Putin: Just Ignore Them
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov also commented: "Thank God this gentleman does not shape, determine or implement US foreign policy. Let's not exaggerate the significance of these kinds of insulting attacks and boorish outbursts, or try to link them to [the state of] Russian-US relations."

Russian Senate Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Konstantin Kosachev echoed Zakharova's words, saying Russia should just ignore McCain's rhetoric. Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Deputy Chairman Dmitri Novikov, meanwhile, said that little more is to be expected from an old Cold Warrior like McCain. "McCain is an old Cold Warrior, a well-known provocateur, and a dreadful Russophobe. Apart from these kinds of insults and boorishness, there's little else to expect of him," Novikov said.

McCain's words also provoked a response on Twitter. While some Trump opponents and #RussiaDidIt conspiracy nuts approved of the senator's remarks, others, even those professing to have no love for Russia, suggested that he was out of line. 

Other users, occasionally using language that was less than diplomatic themselves, slammed McCain for his apparent "thirst for war" with Russia.

Others still began digging for what they thought may be some of the reasons for McCain's outbursts, besides his Cold War heritage.

Russian Twitter users also had a few words of their own for the senator. 

"McCain called Lavrov a 'puppet of a thug and a murderer'. It seems the Vietnamese caused him to lose his mind after all."

"McCain insulted Putin and Lavrov. Just who does this Yankee think he is?"

Senator McCain has repeatedly attacked President Trump for any attempts to normalize relations with Russia. Earlier this month, together fellow Russia hawk Lindsey Graham, the senator frantically moved to try to figure out how to impose new US sanctions against Moscow after the suspension of a key bill proposing new restrictions over claims of Russian meddling in US elections.

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