While many have a mixed view about Pope Francis, he traveled to the Russian embassy to attempt to halt the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. But Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin blasted the gesture of peace.
Fox News reports:
“[A]s empty gestures go, impressive,” the left-wing columnist tweeted, responding to NBC News reporter Richard Engle confirming a report that the pope had made an effort to sue for peace directly with Russia.
Vatican Press Office confirms to @NBCNews that Pope Francis went to the Russian embassy in Rome on Friday to personally express his concern about the war in Ukraine, in an extraordinary papal gesture that has no recent precedent.
— Richard Engel (@RichardEngel) February 25, 2022
as empty gestures go, impressive
— Jennifer "Trump Convicted Felon" Rubin 🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@JRubinBlogger) February 25, 2022
In an unprecedented gesture, Francis visited the Russian embassy in Rome earlier on Friday to express his concern over the war. According to the Associated Press, officials at the Vatican said they knew of no previous initiative by the pope to end a conflict in such a way.
The tweet sparked intense backlash from other users, with one mocking Rubin changing her name on the site to “Jennifer ‘I stand with Ukraine’ Rubin.
Her name previously read “Jennifer ‘pro-voting’ Rubin,” in an apparent reference to her frequent criticisms of recently passed or proposed Republican state election laws.